Bloemfontein, Jan 28: Arshin Kulkarni slammed a stroke-filled century before pacer Naman Tiwari’s grabbed four wickets as India recorded a facile 201-run win over USA in their final group game of the U-19 World Cup here on Sunday.
With the win, defending champions India continued their unbeaten run in the tournament.India, who had already sealed a super six berth having won their opening two games, head to the next stage as leaders of group A.Left-hand opener Arshin (108) starred with the bat with number three Musheer Khan (73) playing the perfect second fiddle as India piled on a mammoth 326 for five after being asked to bat.The bowlers, led by left-arm pacer Tiwari (4/20), then perfectly complemented the Indian batting unit, stopping minnows USA to a paltry 125 for 8 in 50 overs.
USA never looked equipped to overhaul the huge target as Tiwari and fellow pacer Raj Limbani (1/17) sizzled with the new-ball.Limbani sent back Prannav Chettipalayam in the very first over, while Tiwari showed the same accuracy that was on display against Ireland, and cleaned up opener Bhavya Patel in the second over before getting rid of skipper Rishi Ramesh in the eighth over.His other scalps included the determined Utkarsh Srivastava, who top-scored for USA with a 73-ball 40, and Manav Nayak.
Earlier, India expectedly dominated with the bat. However, the record five-time champions lost a bit of steam towards the fag end of the innings, but cameos by Sachin Dhas (20), Priyanshu Moliya (27 not out) and Aravelly Avanish 12 not out took India over the 300-run mark. (PTI)
