Seam bowler Raj Limbani bowled an incisive spell to record the brilliant figures of 7/13 as India cruised to a 10-wicket victory over Nepal to clinch a semi-final berth in the U-19 Asia Cup cricket tournament here on Tuesday.
After shooting out Nepal for just 52 runs in 22.1 overs, courtesy Limbani’s superb performance, all-rounder Arshin Kulkarni (43 not out), hit five huge sixes to knock off the runs in just 7.1 overs.
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Having lost to arch-rival Pakistan by eight wickets in the previous encounter, India colts, led by Uday Saharan, needed to win its final league game to qualify for the knock-out stage and it dominated proceedings against the boys from Himalayan nation.
Nepal was already out of contention after losing both its group league game but its worst was saved for the last with none of its players getting into double digits.
The top scorer for Nepal was Hemant Dhami (8), whose two boundaries got the team past 50-run mark.
Limbani, the lanky 18-year-old right-armer from Baroda, who primarily bowls inswingers at mid 120s, didn’t let any of the Nepalese batters settle down and pitched it up, getting sufficient movement.
The chase was never a problem for India as opener Arshin tonked the Nepal bowlers for fun. Arshin scored 70 not out and took three wickets in the opening game against Afghanistan but didn’t make much of a mark against Pakistan.
On the day, he was in a mood to entertain his dug-out while making mockery of a small target after getting a wicket with his bowling.
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