Opener Arshin Kulkarni’s century followed by a clinical bowling display by the bowlers helped India register a massive 201-run win over the USA in their last group stage match of the Under-19 World Cup 2024. Kulkarni who was picked by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 auction scored 108 runs to help India post 326/5.
Earlier, USA captain Rishi Ramesh won the toss and opted to bowl first. Adarsh Singh attacked in the first over hitting Arya Garg for three boundaries. Meanwhile, Kulkarni took his time. Adarsh slowed down as well. In the 12th over, opening bowler Ateendra Subramanian got the breakthrough. Adarsh scored 25 runs from 37 balls. In his next over, Kulkarni got a reprieve as his catch was dropped. Kulkarni made it count and punished the bad balls by hitting them over the ropes. Centurion of the previous game, Musheer Khan had a similar approach. In the 25th over, Kulkarni reached his half-century from 70 balls.
A few overs later, Musheer completed his half-century from 56 balls. Meanwhile, Kulkarni accelerated. The partnership was broken in the 36th over by Ramesh. Musheer was caught at short third-man after a 76-ball 73 featuring six fours and a six. In the 41st over, Kulkarni reached his century with a boundary. He took 110 deliveries to reach the milestone. He got a standing ovation from his father in the stands as well.
Meanwhile, skipper Uday Saharan scored quickly. In the 43rd over, he was dismissed for a 27-ball 35 by Garg. Kulkarni could not continue either. He departed after scoring 108 runs from 118 balls including eight fours and three sixes. Sachin Dhas hit one six before getting bowled by Aarin Nadkarni in the 48th over. Priyanshu Moliya's 19-ball 27 and Aravelly Avanish's seven-ball 12 helped India post a gigantic total of 326/5 on the board.
USA's run chase was derailed early on. Prannav Chettipalayam got bowled by Raj Limbani in the first over. In his first over, Nawan Tiwari got the wicket of Bhavya Mehta for a two-ball duck. Struggling to score, USA lost another wicket. Skipper Ramesh became Tiwari's second victim. Utkarsh Srivastava and Siddarth Kappa could not push the scoring rate but prevented any more wickets fall to the new ball. In the 24th over, Moliya dismissed Kappa who scored 18 runs from 60 balls. Tiwari came back into the attack and prevented Srivastava from scoring a half-century. He scored 40 runs from 73 balls including four fours.
In his next over, Tiwari got Manav Nayak's wicket for a six-ball duck. Murugan Abhishek joined the party as Saharan took an excellent catch to dismiss Parth Patel. Wicketkeeper-batter Amogh Arepally and Nadkarni's partnership prevented USA from getting bowled out early. In the penultimate over, Nadkarni departed trying to hit Saumy Pandey for a six. He scored 20 runs from 44 balls. USA managed to post 125/8 and lost the match by 201 runs. Arepally remained unbeaten for 27 off 71 balls. Tiwari was the pick of the bowlers with a four-wicket haul from nine overs.
Australia beat Sri Lanka
In the other encounter of the day, Australia beat Sri Lanka by six wickets. Middle-order batter Dinura Klaupahana scored 64 to help Sri Lanka post 208 before they got bowled out. In the run chase, Australia lost wickets in the middle overs but Ryan Hicks' unbeaten 77 led them to a six-wicket win with seven balls to spare. He had help from Tom Campbell who scored 33 runs from 41 balls.
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