India continued their dominance with a massive win over New Zealand while West Indies and Pakistan also battled to victories in their first Super Six encounters at the ICC U19 Men's Cricket World Cup 2024.
Musheer Khan’s second century in the tournament was the highlight of the first day of the Super Six games as India thumped New Zealand with a massive 214-run victory.
Pakistan maintained their unbeaten streak with a hard fought win over a spirited Ireland side in Potchefstroom, edging over the line thanks to another impressive bowling display and heroics from their middle order.
In Kimberley, West Indies emerged victorious in a game that swung back and forth. Sri Lanka’s bowlers took the game to the final over, but were unable to overturn another gritty fightback from the West Indies lineup.
India beat New Zealand by 214 runs in Bloemfontein
Musheer Khan hit his second century of the U19 Men’s CWC 2024 as India continued to excel batting first in the tournament. New Zealand won the toss and opted to field, enjoying early success as Mason Clarke claimed Arshin Kulkarni’s wicket in the fifth over.
After the bright start, the young Blackcaps became more subdued as Musheer settled in alongside opener Adarsh Singh. The duo scored at a brisk pace forcing New Zealand into regular bowling changes in the hope of producing a breakthrough.
Adarsh brought up his second half-century in the tournament, but fell soon after to Zac Cumming, slicing a catch to backward point for 52.
Captain Uday Saharan and Musheer took over from there in another fine partnership as the latter grew in stature in the company of the solid skipper. The duo added 87 runs together before Oliver Tewatiya sent back Saharan for 34.
Musheer’s innings was characterised by innovative and controlled strokeplay, and he completed his century in the 43rd over, raising his bat after 109 balls. The milestone allowed him to free his arms and he raced to 131 before Mason Clarke returned to dismiss him in the 48th over. India couldn’t find too many runs from the lower order as they finished on 295, the last 10 overs yielding 89 runs.
Clarke was impressive albeit expensive, returning figures of four for 62 from his eight overs.
Raj Limbani started the second innings with a bang, sending back Tom Jones with a brilliant inswinger off the very first ball. The unstoppable Limbani added a second in the same over when he had Snehith Reddy trapped in front with another full delivery that swung in sharply.
Saumy Pandey made it 13 for three in the sixth over when he had Lachlan Stackpole bowled from around the wicket with a delivery that beat the left-hander’s outside edge and hit the stumps. The spinner struck again moments later, trapping James Nelson in front for 10 as New Zealand ended the Powerplay four wickets down.
Captain Oscar Jackson once again led New Zealand’s fightback, but his stay at the crease was short lived, falling to Musheer’s accurate spin bowling shortly after Naman Tiwari had removed Tewatiya.
The lower order added a few runs, but India, led again by Pandey with the ball, were clinical, as the Blackcaps folded for 81, losing by 214 runs.
Indian skipper Uday Saharan was delighted with his team’s performance in the tournament, with three back-to-back 200-plus run victories.
“I thought we executed our plans very well. Musheer was exceptional as usual and Raj [Limbani] bowled very well upfront. I don’t think I need to motivate the guys, we’re all in a good frame of mind.”
West Indies beat Sri Lanka by three wickets in Kimberley
Opting to bat first in Kimberley, Sri Lanka were dealt an early blow when Nathan Edward, Player of the Match in the previous game, had opener Vishen Halambage dismissed for a golden duck in the opening over.
No.3 Sineth Jayawardena too fell soon after to Edward as the left-arm quick continued from where he left off against England in their final group match. Pulindu Perera and Supun Waduge started the rebuild, but couldn’t get far as Raneico Smith came into the attack and trapped Perera in front in his first over.
Dinura Kalupahana held his end up with some solid defensive strokes as Waduge tried to up the run-rate. The partnership, though, was broken just as it was gaining momentum when a deflection off Nathan Sealy’s fingertips hit the stumps at the non-striker’s end with Waduge short of the crease.
The unfortunate dismissal saw Sri Lanka slip to 85 for four with their key batter back in the hut. Kalupahana took on the responsibility of marshalling the innings, but he struggled to find partners as West Indies kept striking regularly.
Malsha Tharupathi stuck around at No.8 and the duo stitched together a half-century stand before Kalupahana, who made 53, cut Sealy straight to the fielder.
Tharupathi added useful lower-order runs with the tail before Smith cleaned him up. Sri Lanka finished on 231 in 50 overs, a total that appeared unlikely at the half-way mark. Smith was the pick of West Indian bowlers with figures of four for 47.
West Indies got off to a flier in the chase with skipper Stephan Pascal leading the charge. The opener raced to 33 with five fours and a six, after which Kalupahana had him caught at point.
Steve Wedderburn carried on positively, but West Indies lost Joshua Dorne to Vishwa Lahiru just after the Powerplay.
Jordan Johnson and Wedderburn, however, continued doing what West Indies have done well this tournament: transferring the pressure onto their opponents with quick runs. The 86-run partnership between the duo came at nearly run-a-ball as West Indies put themselves well ahead in the chase.
Sri Lanka struck back in the middle overs, first sending back Wedderburn and then Johnson next over to break the stand that was threatening to finish the game quickly. Vihas Thewmika’s off-spin accounted for Johnson, who made 39, but Mavendra Dindyal and Edward shaved off a few more runs from the target as West Indies edged closer.
Two quick wickets, that of Dindyal and Edward, gave Sri Lanka a bit of hope. It increased further when the dangerous Jewel Andrew was trapped in front by Kalupahana with the Windies still 26 runs from the target.
However, Sealy came to their rescue, yet again staying calm under pressure to get West Indies close. Despite a few nervy moments, Sealy remained unbeaten on 27 to steer his side home with three balls to spare.
West Indies skipper Stephan Pascal reflected on familiar conditions in his post-match reaction.
“The pitch wasn’t too different to what we have in the Caribbean Islands. I thought it was easy for the guys to adapt and play freely. To be honest, I was looking to bowl them out for around 150, but that partnership between Kalupahana and Tharupathi propelled them to that score. Even then we were very confident of chasing it down. We need to work on closing out games in an easier way, but we don’t want to curb our natural flair.”
Pakistan beat Ireland by three wickets in Potchefstroom
Pakistan’s pacers made merry at the JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom after skipper Saad Baig opted to bowl first against Ireland. Ubaid Shah, who leads the wickets chart in the tournament so far, had Jordan Neill caught and bowled in the sixth over after the Irish openers were watchful early on with the new ball.
Ali Raza came in as first-change bowler to send back Ryan Hunter after his 28-ball stay for 10 runs. Ahmad Hassan, though, broke the back of Ireland’s top-order with the wickets of Gavin Roulston and skipper Philippe le Roux in quick succession.
Amir Hassan returned for a second spell to snare the big wicket of Kian Hilton and Ireland were left on their haunches at 39 for five.
Scott MacBeth and John McNally put together a promising partnership to lift Irish hopes, but Baig threw the ball back to Ubaid to break the stand and he delivered. In the first ball of his second over on return, Ubaid had MacBeth caught out for 16 and Ireland lost their sixth wicket.
Harry Dyer hung around with McNally to resist a lower-order collapse and Ireland got to the three-figure mark in the 32nd over. The stand between the two was broken a few overs later when Dyer fell for a 41-ball 31, holing out from off-spinner Haroon Arshad.
McNally completed his half-century thereafter and Ireland pushed themselves close to the 200-run mark. Ali Raza had McNally bowled in the 45th over, which dented Ireland’s chances of a final push in the death overs.
Raza finished with economical figures of two for 18 in 10 overs while Ubaid Shah took three for 31 in his 10. Amir and Ahmad Hassan also shared two wickets apiece as Pakistan’s bowling restricted Ireland to 181.
In reply, Ireland managed to do something few teams have managed against Pakistan this far this tournament: dismiss the openers cheaply. Reuben Wilson and Oliver Riley struck inside the first six overs to send back the dangerous duo of Shahzaib Khan and Shamyl Hussain.
With the middle-order left to do the heavy lifting for arguably the first time in the tournament, Pakistan struggled to adapt. Azan Awais and skipper Baig got starts but couldn’t go past the 20s. Promoted up the order, Ubaid too fell for a single-digit score as Ireland sensed a way into the contest with Pakistan at 96 for five.
However, Ahmed Hassan and Arshad eased the nerves by making 39 runs off the next six overs to push back the Irish bowlers. The duo stayed unbeaten till the score crossed 150, after which Arshad was bowled by Neill for 25.
Arafat Minhas was sent back by Dyer late in the game, but Pakistan were almost home by that point. Hassan completed his half-century as Pakistan registered a victory that, while not too convincing, helped them maintain vital momentum at a crucial stage in the tournament.
Skipper Saad Baig was impressed with the bowling unit and commended them for another good performance.
“It was a good bowling performance. I'd say the way we bowled, Ubaid, and especially Ali Raza, was brilliant. The big positive was taking early wickets. With the bat, I thought Ahmad Hassan produced a very good knock.”
