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In a perfect preparation for the upcoming World Cup, India's under-19 team rode on Arshin Kulkarni's all-round show to bulldoze South Africa colts by seven wickets in the third match of the Trilateral ODI series at the Old Edwardians Cricket Ground in Johannesburg on January 2, Tuesday. Batting first South Africa posted a lowly total of 240 after Lhuan-dre Pretorious' 67 and Steve Stolk's 46. Aaradhya Shukla and Saumy Pandey ran through the South African batting line-up to thwart them from notching big score. While Aaradhya picked a brilliant four-fer, Pandey bagged an impressive three-fer.
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Meanwhile, Arshin, who was bought by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the recently-held IPL 2024 auction, too chipped in with instrumental two wickets, In reply, India without much hiccups chased down the target with 9.1 overs to spare. It was Arshin who after shining with the ball, doubled it up with a magnificent 91 which was decorated with 12 fours and three sixes. Arshin, who is dubbed as next Hardik Pandya, stitched an instrumental 117-run opening partnership with Adarsh Singh, who too impressed with 66 off 70 which was loaded with 10 boundaries. Later Juan James dismissed Adarsh, but Arshin remained undeterred and went on combine with Aravelly Avanish and stitched another 79-run partnership with him for the second wicket. After losing Arshin at 91 and Sachin Das at 0, Aravelly remained unbeaten at 60 off 56 with Uday Saharan (4) to take India past victory line after losing Arshin at 91. Naqobani Mokoena remained the pick of the bowler for South Africa with two-wicket haul.
Meanwhile, this win places India at the top of the leaderboard with two victories in two matches, accumulating four points and a robust net run-rate of 1.35. On the other side, the South African team experienced their second defeat in the series, leaving them at the bottom of the standings with a net run-rate of -0.9. Afghanistan U19, the third team in the series, holds the second spot. They have an equal record of one win and one loss, having been beaten by India by six wickets before overcoming South Africa by 47 runs in their subsequent match.
The South African team will now face a critical situation, needing victories in their final two matches to qualify for the final. Conversely, the Indian team is in a commanding position and is widely regarded as the favorite to advance to the championship match scheduled for January 10.
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