Abhigyan Kundu, Henil Patel star as India beat USA by 6 wickets in opener
India began their U-19 World Cup campaign with a comfortable six-wicket win over the USA in the opening match, boosted by outstanding performances from Abhigyan Kundu and Henil Patel. The duo played a key role in leading India to victory, ensuring the team had a strong start to the tournament.
India began their U-19 World Cup journey with an easy 6-wicket victory over the USA at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. The match was shortened to 37 overs per side due to the DLS method and India were set a revised target of 96 runs, which they chased with ease. Abhigyan Kundu was the standout player, scoring an impressive unbeaten score of 42 off 41 balls, including five fours and one six. Contributions also came from captain Ayush Mhatre (19) and Vihaan Malhotra (18) and helped India secure the win. While Kanishk Chouhan added a useful 10 runs, star batsman Vaibhav Suryavanshi had a quiet game, conceding just 2 runs at the hands of Ritvik Appidi.
On the US bowling front, Ritvik Appidi emerged as the most effective bowler, taking two wickets for 24 runs in five overs. Rishabh Shimpi took one wicket for 29 runs and skipper Utkarsh Srivastava also took one wicket and conceded only 17 runs. Other bowlers struggled to make an impact against the Indian batsmen.
Early in the match, India won the toss and chose to bowl first. This decision turned out to be advantageous because the USA was defeated in only 107 rounds. Young fast bowler Henil Patel put in an outstanding performance, spearheading the bowling attack by taking five wickets. He made an early breakthrough by dismissing Amrinder Gill, followed by Deepesh Devendran who removed Sahil Garg.
Patel continued his dominance by taking the wickets of Arjun Mahesh, USA captain Utkarsh Srivastava, Sabrish Prasad and Rishabh Shimpi to complete his five-wicket haul.
The Gujarat-born pacer completed his spell with remarkable figures of 5 for 16 in seven overs. Deepesh Devendran (1/19), RS Ambrish (1/14), Khilan Patel (1/27) and Vaibhav Suryavanshi contributed one wicket each.
Nitish Sudini became the top scorer for the USA, scoring 36 points off 52 balls. Sahil Garg and Arjun Mahesh scored 16 points each, while Adnit Jhamb scored 18 points to help their team reach a modest total. No other batsman managed to score in double figures.
With this win, India moved up the points table and aims to continue their winning streak. India, which is in Group A, will face Bangladesh in its next match on January 17.
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