Even though the score of 251 for 7 didn’t seem high, the two Indian spinners shut off the flow of runs and dismissed the “Tiger Cubs” for a pitiful 167 in 45.5 overs.
Saumy Kumar Pandey and Musheer Khan, two left-arm spinners, led an impressive Indian display as the reigning champions defeated Bangladesh by 84 runs in their opening match of the ICC U-19 World Cup here on Saturday.
Even though the score of 251 for 7 didn’t seem high, the two Indian spinners shut off the flow of runs and dismissed the “Tiger Cubs” for a pitiful 167 in 45.5 overs.
Following Bangladesh’s invitation to take the first strike, captain Uday Saharan (64 off 94 balls) and left-handed opener Adarsh Singh (76 off 96 balls) both scored half-centuries.
While Musheer (2/35) was frugal and bowled a dangerous arm ball with a skiddy movement, Saumy (4/24) flung it up and got enough drift to tighten the noose around Bangladeshi hitters.
The younger brother of Mumbai batter Sarfaraz Khan, Musheer, was a baller on the field and could also run a player out.
Players from both teams engaged in teasing during the match, which was somewhat ill-tempered given the history of friction between the two teams at the senior men’s, senior women’s, and U-19 levels.
After losing to Bangladesh in the Asia Cup semi-final, it was a delicious kind of retaliation for the Indian squad.
Even though Indian hitters struggled to hit boundaries, the target was always met since the greatest successful chase at this pitch in Youth ODIs (U-19 ODI) was 243 and the average score of teams batting first was 201. Actually, India’s score of 251/7 on the day was the third-highest at this particular location.
During the last overs, the team’s designated finisher, Sachin Dhas, displayed excellent skill and temperament. He put up a tidy little undefeated cameo of 26 off 20 balls, pushing the tally over the 250-run barrier. An eye-candy sight was seamen Rohanat Doullah Borson’s six-piece suit.
This is the case even though they allowed Bangladeshi bowlers to finish their innings with dot balls worth 26 overs.
Left-arm seamer Maruf Mridha (5/43) was a touch irritated with his captain for making an incorrect calculation and preventing him from finishing his allotted 10 overs, even though he did damage at the beginning and throughout the slog overs.
Maruf, who bowled closer to stumps in the beginning and mixed cutters and wide yorkers at the end to make life difficult for the India colts, had a skilful motion similar to that of Mustafizur Rahaman.
Adarsh (76 off 96 balls) and captain Saharan (64 off 94 balls) set the groundwork for the Indian innings, adding 116 runs for the third wicket in around 23.5 overs.
The two young players, left-arm spinner Mahfuzur Rahaman Rabby (1/41) and off-spinner Sheikh Paevez Jibon (0/39) of Bangladesh, didn’t appear to be at ease against them.Adarsh and Saharan, the two spinners, kept the set hitters in check with six and four fours respectively. Even though Indian hitters only managed two sixes and 14 boundaries in 50 overs, it was still plenty in the end.
