Georgetown: India beat South Africa (SA) by 45 runs for a spectacular start to their U-19 World Cup campaign at Providence stadium here on Saturday. India put a target of 232 and didn't let SA pass.
When Indian skipper Yash Dhull held his grip showing responsible batting, left-arm spinner Vicky Ostwal (5/28) and pacer Raj Bawa (4/47) played excellent in the bowling department and tethered SA to 187.
The four-time champion, India, was sent to bat first but had a poor start. SA pacer Aphiwe Mnyanda caught the first two Indian batters, Harnoor Singh and Angriksh Raghuvanshi, before the wicket, leaving India for 11 for two. Later skipper Yash Dhull and Shaik Rasheed partnered to build the score, and after a 71-run partnership, Rasheed too got caught before wicket by Liam Alder. He tried to sweep left-arm spinner Alder but missed. He, who was dropped at 17, scored 31 out of 54 balls with four boundaries.
Dhull seemed aware of his responsibilities as he and batter Nishant shared 44 runs to add the tally. Dhull got run out after scoring 85 runs of 100 balls with 11 fours. Later Kaushal Tamble added 35 runs to get India past 200. Mathew Boast took India's final two wickets in two consecutive deliveries, and India was all-out in 46.5 overs, scoring 232.
For SA, Valentine Kittime (25) and Dewald Brevis (65) put a 58 run stand after Ethan John Cunningham went out for a duck. Both the former displayed patience and worked on loose balls. But, after well-set Brevis was ended catch to Dhull in 3th over, SA batting collapsed, and skipper Van Heerden's (36) rescue attempt also didn't go well.
India will take on Ireland on Wednesday.