India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka got off to a winning start on the first day of the ACC Under-19 Asia Cup matches held at the ICC Academy ground and Sharjah Cricket Stadium. India outplayed hosts UAE by 154 runs while Pakistan won over Afghanistan by four wickets through a well-fought match at the ICC Academy grounds. Sri Lanka registered an emphatic 274 runs over Kuwait at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
UAE vs India at ICC Academy 1
Harnoor Singh's century guides India to victory over hosts UAE
Opener Harnoor Singh cracked a century and guided India to a formidable total and outplay hosts UAE by 154 runs at the ICC Academy ground 1. Singh carried his form from the recent Triangular Series in India where he had scored 111 against Bangladesh in Kolkata last month. On the opening day of the ninth edition of the ACC Under-19 Asia Cup, Singh cracked 120 off 130 deliveries studded with 11 boundaries to help India post 282 for 5 in 50 overs. UAE could muster only 128 runs before the tight Indian bowling attack.
Earlier, UAE won the toss and elected to field. Host skipper Alishan Sharafu ran out Indian opener Angkrish Raghuvanshi for 2 in the third over. However, opener Harnoor Singh picked the gaps well, and along with one-drop Shaik Rasheed, accelerated the run flow. Singh reached his half-century in 57 balls. The pair put on 90 runs for the second wicket before Afzal Khan got his reward for his tight bowling. He had Rasheed caught by Soorya Satish for 35. Rasheed’s knock which came off 60 balls had just one boundary.
Skipper Yash Dhull joined Singh and India went past the 150 run mark in 32 overs. Singh reached his century in 106 balls with ten boundaries. India’s 200 runs came in the 42nd over and Dhull reached his half-century in 61 balls. In the 44th over, Sharafu ended Singh’s fine knock by having him caught by Dhruv Parashar for 120. Singh and Dhull had recorded a 120 runs partnership in 130 balls for the third wicket. After Nishant Sindhu got run out for a duck, Sharafu ended Dhull’s knock of 63 by trapping him leg before. His 63 came off 68 balls, and had four boundaries. Then Rajvardhan Hangargekar lifted India to formidable total of 282 for 5 through a quick unbeaten 48 off just 23 balls with six boundaries and two sixes.
Chasing the target, UAE found it tough to maintain the momentum before the tight Indian bowling. Though opener Kai Smith played confidently to hit 45 runs, the rest of the batsmen could not rise to the challenge. One drop Dhruv Parashar (19) and skipper Alishan Sharafu (11), despite settling down, could not covert their innings into a big knock.
Medium-pacer Garv Sangwan took the wickets of both Parashar and Sharafu. To make matters difficult for the UAE, Punya Mehra got run out for 6. Smith, who was batting fluently on 45, also got caught behind in the bowling of off-spinner Kaushal Tambe. When Tambe struck again to have Ali Naseer caught and bowled for a duck, UAE was struggling at 92 for 5. Medium-pacer Rajvardhan Hangargekar hastened their victory taking two quicks wickets of Nilansh Keswani for 3 and Adithya Shetty for one. Soorya Satish went for his shots and hit a quick 21 runs off 26 balls with four boundaries before he was trapped leg-before by left-arm spinner Vicky Oswal.
Commenting on the century, Player of the Match Harnoor Singh said: “It is a special feeling to get a century in the Asia Cup. Though I did hit a century last month in the Triangular series, I would rate this as more important. This knock is also special since I have been able to help my country get off to a good start in this tournament.”
India captain Yash Dhull hailed Harnoor Singh's knock and said: “It was a brilliant century and we needed that to pile up a good score. I enjoyed batting with him too. I think we bowled, batted, and fielded well, and that has given us this win. We want to continue to perform in such a manner in the coming matches.”
UAE skipper Alishan Sharafu feels the exposure against India will do them good. “We feel that we bowled well against such a strong batting lineup. A total of 275 was a par score on this wicket. We should have batted better but we could not produce any partnerships. It was a good test of our skills. We will work on our shortcomings and put on a stronger performance in the coming matches.”
UAE v India at ICC Academy 1
INDIA WON BY 154 RUNS
UAE won the toss and elected to field
India: 282 for 5 off 50 overs (H.Pannu 120, Y.Dhull 63)
UAE: 128 all out off 34.3 overs (R.Hangargekar 3-24)
Man of the Match: Harnoor Pannu (India)
Kuwait vs Sri Lanka at Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Sri Lanka dominate Kuwait for emphatic victory
Sri Lanka registered an impressive 274 runs victory over Kuwait at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. They displayed their batting strength to pile up 323 for 5 and then bowled out Kuwait for just 49 runs. Pawan Pathiraja lead the run spree through a knock of 86 and bag the Player of the Match award.
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat and got off to a brilliant start. Openers Chamindu Wickramasinghe and Shevon Daniel scored at a brisk pace. Wickramasinghe reached his half-century in 47 balls. Daniel played second fiddle and the pair put on 91 runs in 17.2 overs before Wickramasinghe got bowled by Habier Ali. His knock of 54 off 57 balls had five boundaries and a six.
Daniel reached his half-century in 60 balls but four runs later Abdullah Zaheer got him out leg before. His 54 came off 65 balls with four boundaries and a six. Sadisha Rajapaksa then went for his shots and Sri Lanka went past the 150 run mark in 27 overs. Habier Ali struck again to remove Rajapaksa whose 35 off 37 balls included four boundaries. Pawan Pathiraja then increased the run flow with some powerful shots.
Sri Lanka reached went past 200 runs in 36 overs. Ranuda Somarathne played the supporting role and the pair put on 114 runs in 93 deliveries for the fourth wicket before Pathiraja fell to Zeeshan Azeem for 86 off 72 balls with eleven boundaries. Azeem also dismissed Sri Lankan skipper Dunith Wellalage for 19. Ranuda Somarathne remained unbeaten on 60 off 57 balls with four boundaries to ensure a whopping total of 323 for 5 in 50 overs.
Kuwait needed to score at a run rate of 6.46 to achieve their target. Their opener and skipper Meet Bhavsar along with Jude Saldanha posted 31 runs from 5.3 overs. Sadisha Rajapaksa ended that partnership by clean bowling Bhavsar for 25. Rajapaksa also removed one-down Muhammad Umar for 2. With the score on 40, opener Saldanha got stumped by wicketkeeper Anjala Bandara off Rajapaksa for 12.
When Matheesha Pathirana clean bowled Abdullah Zaheer for a duck and Dunith Wellalage trapped Abdul Sadiq leg before for 3, Kuwait slipped to 45 for 5 in 15.1 overs. Kuwait’s wickets continued to fall when Wellalage went on to trap Abdullah Farooq too leg before for 1. The quick wickets made it a mountainous task for Kuwait and they hoped for Sharyn Hill and Hilda Hills to lift them out of trouble. But the next three wickets fell with the still on 49. Wellalage did the damage by removing Hilda and Habier Ali in quick succession.
Sri Lankan skipper Dunith Wellalage hailed his team’s all-round performance. “It was a splendid all-round performance from our team. I am happy with the contribution from every team member, Pawan Pathiraja. Chamindu and Shevon and Ranudu got half-centuries, and Sadisha bowled and batted well. I am glad that Matheesha and I could ensure that we record a big win.”
Player of the Match Pawan Pathiraja attributed his knock to the encouragement from his teammates. “I am so happy that I could contribute to my team’s victory. I was able to play such a knock because of the encouragement from those who batted with me and all the others who cheered for me from outside. I am disappointed that I could not get my century but I will surely try and reach that mark in the coming matches.”
Kuwait skipper Meet Bhavsar believes it was a learning curve for his team. “They (Sri Lankans) batted and bowled so well. It was too good for us but we need to improve. Though I top-scored with 25, I would want all others to also stay longer and contribute in the coming matches. Had we not lost wickets so quickly we could have posted at least 150 to 200 runs. But we will surely try harder in the coming matches.”
Kuwait v Sri Lanka at Sharjah Cricket Stadium
SRI LANKA WON BY 274 RUNS
Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bat
Sri Lanka: 323 for 5 off 50 overs (C.Wickramasinghe 54, S.Daniel 54, P.Pathiraja 86, R.Somarathne 60*)
Kuwait: 49 all out 17.4 overs (S.Rajapaksa 3-4, D.Nethmika 4-2)
Man of the Match: Pawan Pathiraja (Sri Lanka)
http://asiancricket.org/index.php/tournaments/acc-u19-asia-cup-2021/3502
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