India bounce back strongly in U19 Asia Cup, hammer Japan by 211 runs

Mohamed Amaan played a captain’s knock as India made a strong comeback in the U19 Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). India had begun their campaign with a 43-run defeat at the hands of Pakistan, but they bounced back with a 211-run win over Japan on Monday, December 2 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Amaan scored an unbeaten 122 off 118 balls with seven fours and not only helped India win the match, but also stay alive for a berth in the semi-final. After their win over Japan, India are placed third in the table with two points and a net run rate of +1.680. Pakistan are the table-toppers in Group A after wins in both their games, while the UAE are second.

After being asked to bat first, India scored 339 for the loss of six wickets. Ayush Mhatre and Vaibhav Suryavanshi laid the platform with a 65-run partnership off 7.2 overs. Mhatre scored 54 runs off



29 balls with six fours and four sixes before Aarav Tiwari accounted for his wicket.

Andre Siddarth made 35, but it was a stand of 122 runs between Amaan and KP Karthikeya that put Japan under extreme pressure. Karthikeya chipped in with 57 useful runs before Hugo Kelly dismissed him. Hardik Raj used the long handle to good effect, making 25 off 12 in the death overs.

Japan could not get out of second gear in their run-chase. Hugo Kelly made 50 runs off 111 balls with six fours, but he hardly got any support from the other batters. Barring him, only his opening partner, Nihar Parmar, and Charles Hinze got into double digits.

Hinze got the wicket of Suryavanshi, after which he made an unbeaten 35 off 68 balls with two fours. Chetan Sharma, Hardik, and Karthikeya took two scalps apiece. Yudhajit Guha also had economical figures of 7-3-9-1.