U-19 World Cup: Kiwi challenge for in-form India in final group game

India and New Zealand have reserved their spot in the quarterfinals of the ICC U-19 World Cup and will meet in the final Group A match on Friday.

Among the runs: Jaiswal has scored a half-century and an unbeaten 29 so far in the World Cup.

A confident Indian team will be keen to maintain its unbeaten run when it takes on New Zealand in the final Group A tie of the ICC U-19 World Cup here on Friday.

India is already through to the quarterfinals, having defeated Sri Lanka and Japan convincingly for two wins out of two. It sits atop the Group A points table. With three points from two games, courtesy of a win and an unlucky wash-out, New Zealand is also in the last eight.

New Zealand will hope to emulate its seniors who reached the final of the ICC World Cup in England last year.

One-sided contest

India’s spinners shone brightly in its previous contest against Japan . Ravi Bishnoi (4 for 5), Kartik Tyagi (3 for 10) and Akash Singh (2 for 11) ran through Japan’s line-up and bundled the side out for 41. India chased down the target without much ado for a 10-wicket win.

On the batting front, Yashasvi Jaiswal, captain Priyam Garg and wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel struck half-centuries in the first contest against Sri Lanka. Tilak Varma and Siddhesh Veer also provided useful contributions.

Jaiswal, with 88 runs, is India’s leading run-getter so far in the competition.

For New Zealand, Rhys Mariu has been in red-hot form, having scored 86 and 51 in his two matches so far. He registered scores of 56 and 32 in the warm-up matches.

The Indian team is yet to be tested against a strong opposition, and New Zealand could be its toughest opponent yet.

• India U-19: Priyam Garg (c), Akash Singh, Atharva Ankolekar, Shubhang Hegde, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Kartik Tyagi, Kumar Kushagra, Sushant Mishra, Vidyadhar Patil, Ravi Bishnoi, Shashwat Rawat, Divyaansh Saxena, Tilak Varma, Siddhesh Veer, Divyansh Joshi.
• New Zealand U-19: Jesse Tashkoff (c), Adithya Ashok, Kristian Clarke, Hayden Dickson, Joey Field, David Hancock, Simon Keene, Fergus Lellman, Nicholas Lidstone, Rhys Mariu, William O’Rourke, Ben Pomare, Quinn Sunde, Beckham Wheeler-Greenall, Ollie White.
• Match starts at 1.30pm (IST).