In the Under-19 World Cup on Sunday, India defeated the USA by 201 runs thanks to innings of 108 off 118 balls from Arshin Kulkarni, 76 off 73 from Musheer Khan, and 4 for 20 from the economical Naman Tiwari. They maintained their perfect record heading into the tournament's Super Six thanks to their victory.
Kulkarni and Musheer scored the most of India's 326 runs for 5 in 50 overs. USA was restricted to 125 for 8 in Bloemfontein as medium pacer Tiwari took 4 for 20 in nine overs in response.
Adarsh Singh hit 3 fours in the opening over after India opted to bat, but the USA spinners held him and Kulkarni for a while. After ten overs, India could manage only forty, which made Adarsh a little nervous. Ateendra Subramanian, the medium pacer, gave his wicket in mid-off by Adarsh when he was on 25.
But Musheer and Kulkarni got stable and together contributed 155 runs off 142 balls for the second wicket. Before opening up, both batters took some time to settle in. Kulkarni made sure to take advantage after a fortunate escape after being dropped on 16 at mid-off. He reached his half-century off 70 balls as he thrashed legspinner Rishi Ramesh around the same area and sliced quick bowler Aarin Nadkarni for six over deep midwicket.
Musheer carried on with his performance against Ireland. He began by taking Nadkarni deep for a cover drive before hitting Utkarsh Srivastava for six. With both batsmen now established, they were able to get the boundaries away more frequently. It took him 56 balls to complete his half-century.
Musheer was dismissed by Ramesh, but Kulkarni made it to three figures from 110 balls with a four-past fine leg. Captain Uday Saharan maintained the momentum with a 27-ball 35, but the USA tried to rally and both he and Kulkarni fell within six balls. However, at that point, India was 259 for 4 in the 44th over, with Priyanshu Moliya (27* off 19 balls), Sachin Dhas (20 off 16) and Aravelly Avanish (12* off seven) played important cameos to take India past the 325-run mark.
The USA was never truly in the chase. In the first two overs, they lost openers Prannav Chettipalayam and Bhavya Mehta. After 7.5 overs, Tiwari removed Ramesh for 8 runs, bringing the USA to 12 for 3. For a while, Siddarth Kappa and Srivastava held firm, amassing 43 runs off 93 balls for the fourth wicket. However, off-spinner Moliya entered the picture, bowling Kappa back for just 18.
After dismissing Manav Nayak and Srivastava in consecutive overs, Tiwari increased his career wicket total to 79 for 6, which quickly increased to 90 for 7 after 30 overs. By adding 31 off 78 balls for the eighth wicket, Amogh Arepally (27* off 71) and Nadkarni (20 off 44) postponed the inevitable and made sure India couldn't bowl the opposition out.
India headed into the Super Sixes topping their group and will face New Zealand on Tuesday.
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