India's Under-19 team continued their dominance in the Tri-Series with a six-wicket win over South Africa. After left-arm spinner Musheer Khan's five-wicket haul to restrict South Africa to 256, skipper Uday Saharan's 112, and Priyanshu Moliya's unbeaten 76 helped India chase down the total with eight balls to spare.
Earlier, Saharan won the toss and opted to field first. Naman Tiwari in his third over drew first blood with the wicket of Lhuan-dre Pretorius. Steve Stolk took the aggressive approach. He reached his half-century with a six in the 16th over. In the 17th over, Musheer got the breakthrough with David Teeger's wicket. In his next over, Musheer ended Stolk's stay at the crease. His 66-ball 69 featured five fours and as many sixes. In consecutive overs, Musheer dismissed Ntando Zuma and Oliver Whitehead to reduce the hosts to 121/5.
Dewan Marais and Romanshan Pillay got starts but could not go on to score a half-century. Pillay became Musheer's fifth victim of the day. The eighth-wicket partnership between Riley Norton and Sipho Potsane helped South Africa recover. Tiwari broke the partnership with Norton's wicket. South Africa got bowled out for 256 in 50 overs.
India's run chase got off to a poor start. Kwena Maphaka dismissed Innesh Mahajan and Rudra Patel in the first over of the innings. Saharan and Musheer got the run chase back on track. Musheer and Saharan shared a 90-run stand for the third wicket. He scored 41 runs from 42 balls including five fours. Saharan played with patience and reached his half-century from 72 balls.
South Africa bowlers failed to break the partnership until it was too late. In the 42nd over, Saharan reached his century from 141 balls. Moliya reached his half-century from 68 balls. In the 46th over, Norton got the wicket of Saharan. He scored 112 runs from 153 balls including 10 fours. Moliya did not want to take the game deep. In the penultimate over, Aravelley Avanish finished the run chase with a maximum. Moliya remained unbeaten for 76 off 84 balls including six fours and a six.
On January 8, South Africa will go up against Afghanistan. If South Africa manage to beat Afghanistan by a considerable margin, they will qualify for the final which will be played on January 10.
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