India-U19 has pulled off a miraculous win in the India U-19 vs South Africa U-19. After being 32/4 while chasing a target of 246, skipper Uday Saharan and Sachin Dhas guided the Men in Blue to an insurmountable victory to enter their 9th Under-19 World Cup Final.
After dismissing the hosts for 245, owing to Raj Limbani and Musheer Khan’s incredible spells, the target seemed very getable for Uday Saharan and Co. However, the Protean pacers had other things on their minds.
In their opening spells, Tristan Luus and Kwena Maphaka claimed the Indian top order for just 32 runs. Maphaka dismissed Adarsh Singh on the first ball of the inning, while Luus sent Arshin Kulkarni, Musheer Khan, and Priyanshu Moliya back into the hut by the 12th over.
Saharan and Dhas stitched a 171-run stand to make the India-19 side the favorites. However, Dhas’ dismissal in the 43rd over gave the South African U-19 hope. Wicketkeeper batter Aravelly Avanish couldn’t help skipper Saharan either, and Murugan Abhishek went in the next over to take India from 203/4 to 227/7.
However, skipper Saharan remained calm. He was dismissed for 81 with the scores leveled, but Naman Tiwari smashed the ball past mid-off to give the Men in Blue the win.
India U-19 vs South Africa U-19: Brief Scores
SA U19: 244-7 (Lhuan-dre Pretorius 76, Richard Seletswane; Raj Limbani 3/60, Musheer Khan 2/43)
IND U19: 248-8 (Sachin Dhas 96, Uday Saharan 81; Tristian Luus 3/37, Kwena Maphaka 3/31)
India U-19 vs South Africa U-19: Playing XIs
IND U19: Arshin Kulkarni, Adarsh Singh, Musheer Khan, Uday Saharan (c), Priyanshu Moliya, Sachin Dhas, Aravelly Avanish Rao (wk), Murugan Abhishek, Saumy Kumar Pandey, Raj Limbani, Naman Tiwari.
SA U19: Lhuan-dre Pretorius (wk), Steve Stolk, David Teeger, Richard Seletswane, Oliver Whitehead, Dewan Marias, Juan James (c), Riley Norton, Tristan Luus, Kwena Maphaka, Nqobani Mokoena.