- India 42/0 after 4.5 overs: Interesting! Japan starts off with spin. Yashasvi Jaiswal to face Yugandhar Retharekar. And off the very second ball, Jaiswal dispatches him for a four over mid-wicket.
Kento Ota Dobell to bowl from the other end. And another boundary; it is Kumar Kushagra who scores it this time! A friendly short ball and Kushagra slams it away to the square leg region.
Into the third now, and things are going at the pace of a boundary an over. Shorter delivery again, and Jaiswal pulls it over mid-wicket. Scratch that! It is not one boundary an over now; we have a six and another boundary following the first four. Jaiswal is surely in a hurry to get things done. 15 from the over.
Jaiswal greets Ota Dobell with an elegant straight drive in the fourth over. The ball races away to the fence in no time. And another off the second ball: waits and waits for the ball, leans back and slashes it across. 10 from the over.
Ashley Thurgate delivers a half-tracker through the left side in the first ball of the fifth over . Kushagra wouldn't miss it for anything... FOUR through backward square leg!
And an emphatic victory comes in just 4.5 overs, with a single.
Birthday boy Dhruv Jurel says, "We will finish the match as soon as possible!" He clearly doesn't want a delay in his birthday celebrations...
- Japan 41 all out in 22.5 overs: So close! Akash almost gets another wicket in the 21st over , that of Yugandhar Retharekar's. The ball lobs up and falls just short of the diving cover point fielder. However, you do not always get a second chance. Retharekar mistimes a flick through the leg side, and Siddhesh Veer takes a comfortable catch at mid-on. Sora Ichiki, left-handed bat, comes to the crease.
Bishnoi would be expected to finish things off here. However, Japan continues to breathe. Just the one run from the 22nd over .
Akash continues to lead the attack from the other end, in the 23rd. And he ensures that there is no further delay. Chipped to mid-on by Kento Ota Dobell, where Veer takes a sharp catch. This is the joint second-lowest total in an U-19 World Cup.
- Japan 36/8 after 20 overs: Two runs from Bishnoi's over (16th).
Over No 17: And given! The umpire has a long, hard look at things and finally has decided to award it to the Boys in Blue. Tyagi gets it fuller and straighter yet again. Clements trapped in front! Two balls later, a familiar scene greets me. In a repeat of the senior World Cup and the IPL, the ball clips the stumps but the bails do not get dislodged. The ones in use are not even Zing bails...
Bishnoi continues to rule the pitch! Just a run from the 18th, again. His figures, thus far, read 6-2-4-4. Astounding!
19 extras, thus far. The U-19 World Cup has had extras galore. Happened in India's last match against Sri Lanka, as well. Tyagi's given three of them, this over ( 19th ): 2 wides, and a leg bye.
Maybe, I should stop writing about Bishnoi's overs. Guess, he is bored too. Suddenly, he has changed his runup. Rushing down right to left and then right again. Does everything possible and still a maiden. The umpires are having a giggle, too.
- Japan 29/7 after 15 overs: It has been all about wicket updates on my blog this afternoon! 11th over already, and it is no different. Looking to work the ball towards the legside, Sahoo gets a leading edge as the ball balloons to the extra cover region. Skipper Priyam Garg takes a one-handed blinder! Patil gets his first wicket.
Bishnoi concedes the first run, courtesy a wide. That's about it from the 12th over . Max Clements would obviously not take any risk here.
I just thought Patil had his second wicket in the 13th . Straight and full to Clements as the ball crashes onto his pads. There is a confident appeal, but the umpire isn't interested. Maiden over.
Clements gets one run from the 14th over . Goes aggressively after Bishnoi but the ball takes the edge and flies past the slip. They run two but Clements forgets to ground his bat on the way back. Sigh! Drinks. The guys in pink do need some time to think things over.
Over 15: Lovely stroke from Clements off Patil's bowling! A delightful drive sees Bishnoi chase the ball, all the way to the ropes. There is a passionate dive, as well, but the quick outfield ensures four more runs for Japan.
- Japan 19/6 after 10 overs: Japan's first boundary in the ICC U-19 World Cup comes in the sixth over as Noguchi whips Akash's full toss towards backward point. Delightful shot! However, only another run comes from that over, as Akash recovers well.
Debashish Sahoo was all but gone! Tyagi gets one to zip back in, in the seventh over , even as Sahoo decides to open the face of the bat. But he was quick to withdraw his bat from the line of the ball. Quick thinking! Three off that over. The bowler, however, appears to have pulled a hamstring as he limps off the field.
Ravi Bishnoi has been introduced into the attack, in the eighth over, and the spinner launches the wrong'un first up. Noguchi misreads the ball, and the turn sees the ball make a mess of the stumps. Well... well... well... Two in two again as this time Bishnoi gets it through the gate- a wrong'un again. Another golden duck and it is Kazumasa Takahashi, who has to walk now. WOW! He misses the hattrick by a whisker as the ball just misses the line of Ishan Fartyal's leg stump. Two-wicket maiden!
Over nine: Vidyadhar Patil has been getting the ball to swing away from the right-hander. First ball races away to the ropes off the pad, as Sahoo looks to go for a glance. He concedes a wide in the over too.
Bishnoi... WHAT A GUY! Gets the ball to spin into the batsman again. A flick on the pad, and the umpire doesn't hesitate to raise his finger, straightway. Fartyal goes for a duck, as well, in over number 10. The show's not over as the lad's running through Japan here. Not a run and four wickets to his name now. Ashley Thurgate leaves for a duck too after Yashasvi Jaiswal takes a commendable catch at first slip.
- Japan 6/2 after 5 overs: Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals' newest buy Kartik Tyagi starts off things with the new ball, in
the first over . Wicketkeeper and captain Marcus Thurgate will face him, while Shu Noguchi will be at the non-striker's end. And straightaway, there is a hint of movement on the new ball, angling into the right-hander, causing some trouble for the batsman. Just one run comes from the over, courtesy a wide.
Akash Singh will be bowling from the other end, in
the second over . Noguchi, Japan's reserve 'keeper will face him. He was the most valuable player (MVP) in Japan's U-19 league, last year. There are two slips in place. A third slip could have been the initial idea, but the ball nipping back in might have discouraged skipper Priyam Garg. Just two runs come from the over.
Tyagi's back and that is not exactly how he would have wanted things to begin in the third over : a wide. There is another wide, which comes after two more deliveries. However, the youngster nearly got Thurgate twice in the over. A huge inside edge first negates an LBW appeal, and then the umpire turns down another appeal for 'caught behind'. Close! Two runs from this over, as well. Thurgate, meanwhile, is all smiles. He sure is enjoying his time out in the centre, isn't he?
Akash, our 'excessive appeal' guy is back to his regular routine, in the fourth . Already three appeals now... Is that a tactic to get into the batsman's head? Only he would be able to answer the question. Meanwhile, Noguchi signals to his skipper at the other end, with a wave - Yes, the ball's swinging! Last ball... swing and a miss; it is a maiden.
Fifth over: Tyagi has been bowling a bit wide of off stump. He needs to change his line a bit, allowing the ball to maybe wobble a bit. And it happens! Straight, fast and Thurgate's gone... Gets his line right, this time and the captain has been sent off. An early breakthrough for the Indians! Well, wait up. That is two in two for Tyagi. Deadly and accurate. Neel Date, who incidentally hails from Pune, departs for a golden duck - trapped plumb in front. Tyagi, however, wastes his hattrick ball, giving away a huge wide on the legside.
India's title defence off to a resounding start, the four-time champion would look to inch closer towards a quarter-final spot when it takes on debutant Japan in a Group A tie of the ICC U-19 World Cup on Tuesday.
India cruised to a 90-run victory over Sri Lanka in its opening group league encounter on Sunday, riding on an impressive batting performance which was topped by a disciplined bowling effort.
Japan, on the other hand, was lucky to have garnered a point after its first match against New Zealand was washed out in Potchefstroom on Saturday.
India is atop Group A and a victory on Tuesday will virtually guarantee it a place in the last-eight round.
India will play New Zealand in its last group match on January 24.
The Indians played like favourites on Sunday, excelling in all departments of the game to outclass their South Asian neighbour.
Batting first, India scored a competitive 297/4, riding on half-centuries from its premier batsmen — opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (59 off 74 balls) and skipper Priyam Garg (56 off 72 balls).
There were significant contributions from vice-captain Dhruv Jurel (52 off 48 balls) and late entrant all-rounder Siddhesh Veer (44 off 27 balls and 2/34 in six overs), which took the total close to the 300-run mark.
The bowlers then kept the Lankan batsmen under check, dismissing them for 207 in 45.2 overs.
Left-arm pacer Akash Singh (2/29), Veer (2/34) and leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi (2/44), who will be seen donning Kings XI Punjab colours in the IPL, shared six wickets between them.
Fast bowler Kartik Tyagi (1/27), who already has a multi-crore IPL contract, was the most impressive as he time and again breached the 140kmph mark, while Jaiswal too picked up a wicket.
And come Tuesday, the Indians are expected to steamroll an inexperienced Japan.
If India bat first, it is expected to pile up a mammoth total against the inexperienced Japanese attack.
The Japanese are at the ICC U-19 World Cup to gather valuable experience by playing against top teams of the world and are not expected to pose any threat to the Indians.
Where and how to watch live coverage of India vs Japan U-19 World Cup?
The India U-19 vs Japan U-19 World Cup match will be aired live on Star Sports 3 .
How to watch India vs Japan U-19 World Cup match online?
The online streaming of the India U-19 vs Japan U-19 World Cup match will be available on Hotstar .
Comments
SHARE