Henil Grabs 5/16 as India Beat USA by 6 Wickets

Bulawayo: Henil Patel led a brutal bowling display with a superb five-wicket haul that sealed India’s six-wicket victory over the USA in the rain-hit ICC Under-19 World Cup opener here on Thursday.

The right-arm seamer finished the match with figures of 5/16 from seven overs with a maiden, moving through the US middle order after India opted to bowl in cloudy conditions. The USA left the group with a meager 107 points over 35.2.

India’s target was revised to 96 in 37 overs after rain interrupted the proceedings, making the total 21 for one in four overs.

Abhigyan Kundu (42 not out from 41 balls) then took the team home with 118 balls to spare under the DLS method.

India’s chase was postponed due to rain, but when play resumed, 14-year-old batting sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi (2) fell cheaply when bowled by Ritvik Appidi (2/24 in 5 overs) in the third over.

Appidi tucked Suryavanshi into the room with a length delivery before the batsman moved down the wicket only to get an inside edge over the stumps.

Skipper Ayush Mhatre had collected two boundaries by then and looked confident until rain caused another disruption.

At that stage of the game, India needed just 87 runs in 46 overs, but when play resumed after a long break, the equation changed under the DLS method.

After the restart, India lost consecutive wickets of Mhatre (19) and Vedant Trivedi (2) after which vice-captain Vihaan Malhotra was dismissed for 18.

Earlier, Henil gave Malhotra a lead at slips off Amrinder Gill (1) in his first over, before long ferocious pacer Deepesh Devendran caught Sahil Garg (16) by Henil at third man to reduce the USA to 29/2 in nine overs.

Henil then took control of the innings with a devastating double, dismissing captain Utkarsh Srivastava for a five-ball duck, then dismissing wicketkeeper Arjun Mahesh (16) as the USA fell to 35/4.

He was back again soon after, taking a loose flick from Mahesh that flew to third man for his third wicket, and the USA never recovered from the collapse.

Leg-spinner Khilan Patel struck immediately on debut and trapped Amogh Arepally (3) as the USA fell to 39/5 in the 16th over.

Nitish Sudini showed some resilience as he counter-attacked with 36 off 52 balls, hitting four boundaries and adding 30 runs with Adnit Jhamb (18) to take the USA past 50 for the sixth wicket.

But Henil came back to clear the tail and dismissed Sabrish Prasad (7) and Rishabh Shimpi (0) to complete his five-for as the USA fell behind with 35.2 overs.

India is in Group B along with Bangladesh and New Zealand.

Quick Points:

USA 107 in 35.2 overs (Nitish Sudini 36; Henil Patel 5/16) vs India.

India: 99/4 in 17.2 overs (Abhigyan Kundu 42 not out; Ritvik Appidi 2/24).