Rishabh Pant scores 87 as India comfortably beat Afghanistan

India now tops the table with nine points

India U-19 bandwagon rolled on in the tri-series, as the hosts beat Afghanistan U-19 with rather ease, by 33 runs, at the Jadavpur University Campus ground in Kolkata, on Saturday. Avesh Khan, who was the man of the match in the first match against Bangladesh U-19, was rested for this match.

Winning the toss yet again, and choosing to bat first, India U-19 got off to a brisk start, as opener Rishabh Pant scored 87 off just 88, at the top of the order, despite losing his opening partner Washington Sundar, early on in the innings.

Amandeep Khare and Ricky Bhui, played composed knocks in the middle, followed by Mahipal Lomror who scored 43, as India U-19 showcased a much better batting display as compared to their first match, finishing at exactly 236 at the end of 50 overs. Rashid Khan picked up 4 wickets for the visitors, which was the only highlight for Afghanistan in the first innings.

Chasing the decent total, Afghanistan U-19 surprisingly, started positively and with the right attitude, with the openers adding 45 in less than 9 overs. The opening stand provided little respite for the visitors, before they briefly lost their way in the middle, and were reeling at 113/7 at one stage.

The star of the bowling attack, Rashid Khan looked formidable with the bat too, and at one point looked like he would take his side home, but was unfortunately dismissed for 43 runs, which came in just 39 balls. After his dismissal, Mohammad Sardar provided some resistance to the bowlers, but eventually couldn’t overcome the stiff target, as Afghanistan were bowled out for 203.

For India, Khaleel Ahmed bowled with good line & length and was aptly rewarded with 4 wickets. Pramanik and Lomror contributed with 2 wickets apiece, as India U-19 won their second consecutive match of the tri-series, by 33 runs.

On account of this victory, the hosts bagged 4 valuable points and are sitting pretty atop the points table, with 9 points in 2 matches.

Brief scores:

India U-19 236 in 50 overs (Rishabh Pant 87, Ricky Bhui 27, Mahipal Lomror 43; Muslim Musa 2-32, Rashid Khan 4-47)Afghanistan U-19 203 in 47.3 overs (Ihsanullah 25, Muslim Musa 27, Rashid Khan 43, Mohammad Sardar 33; Khaleel Ahmed 2-32,Izhaan Sayed 2-34, Pradipta Pramanik 2-34, Mahipal Lomror 2-32).

Points: India 4. Afghanistan 0.