India defeated Pakistan by 40-runs in the opening match of Grpup A with Sarfaraz Khan and Sanju Samson both smashing excellent half-centuries , while Deepak Hooda also chipped in with five wickets on Saturday, in Dubai.
Chubby middle-order batsman Sarfaraz Khan scored a vital 74 and Samson score a solid 68 as the duo put on a whopping 119 runs for the fifth wicket to pull India out from troubled waters. When the pair came together India were 4/94.
In reply, Pakistan openers Sami Aslam (64) and Imam-ul-Haq (39) did provide men in green with a flying start as the duo put on 109 run for the first wicket, but the green shirts failed to capitalize on the momentum created by openers as they succumbed to some disciplined bowling, led by Deepak Hooda (5/41), and athletic fielding, which involved two run outs, to be bowled out for 222.
Earlier, India won the toss and elected to bat first. Indian openers Ankush Bains (24) and Akhil Herwadkar (41) got Indian colts off to a flier aided by Pakistan’s poor bowling to amass 65 runs in eight overs, before Irfanullah Shah (2/32) provided the initial breakthrough that put breaks on India’s free scoring-rate.
However, just when Pakistan had India in a squeeze at 4/94, Sarfaraz Khan and Sanju Samson rescued defending champions to get them to a respectable score of 262/7. Sarfaraz who initially looked out of sorts and took 16 deliveries to get off the mark and was also dropped by Sami in the slip made them pay with an aggressive half-century full of sweep shots.
IPL sensation Samson soon followed Sarfaraz 16 to score a half-century of his own and was dismissed on 68 when he skied a catch to wicket-keeper off Shah’s bowling.
In reply, Pakistan, who leaked 73 runs in last 10 overs, got off to a solid start to stay in pursuit of a 263 runs as Sami Aslam and Imam-ul-Haq when the two put on 109 runs in 23 overs. But, just when, it looked like Pakistan will cruise through at Imam played a silly shot and was caught at the long-off, followed by run out skipper Sami few balls later. Pakistan never recovered from that shock and eventually folded for 222 in the 49th over.
For India, Baroda’s impressive 18-year-old off-spinner Deepak Hooda was pick of the bowlers with figures of 5/41.
This match was India’s third win in eight matches against Pakistan in the U-19 Cricket World Cup. Meanwhile, India now leads the overall tally 12-8 in U-19 cricket.
