Team India have opened their U19 World Cup 2024 with a convincing win over Bangladesh, whose batting fizzled out despite a largely disciplined bowling performance, led by Maruf Mridha's fifer, on Saturday in Bloemfontein. The defending champions made the chase of 252 look a bridge too far from the outset and Bangladesh lost their last five wickets for 25 runs to fall short by 84.
After electing to field first, Bangladesh sent back Arshin Kulkarni and Musheer Khan cheaply as Mirdha landed the two blows. Skipper Uday Saharan joined Adarsh Singh at the crease as they batted exceptionally well. Chowdhur Md Rizwan broke the 116-run stand between the duo in the 32nd over as Singh departed for 76.
The Indian captain followed him to the pavilion 6 overs later for his 64-run rearguard. Since then, India's highest scorer had been Sachin Das, who made 26, with Priyanshu Moliya and Aravelly Avanish chipping in with 23 runs each.
Saumy Pandey strikes twice inside 10 overs to put Bangladesh under pressure:
Left-arm slow bowler Saumy Pandey sent back Ashiqur Rahman Shibli and Rizwan in his successive overs to rock Bangladesh early in their run-chase. The Tigers lost their 4th in the 15th over, making their task even steeper.
However, Ariful Islam and Mohammad Shihab James led their recovery with a 77-run stand before Musheer Khan stepped to the fore to separate them. Although James reached his half-century in the 41st over, he began losing partners and India picked up the final wicket in the 46th over as Pandey took a four-wicket haul.
