Henil Patel proved to be the star of the show as India began the U19 World Cup on a positive note and defeated USA by 6 wickets. It proved to be an encounter marred by rain and overseas conditions in Bulawayo led to batters struggling a lot. While Vaibhav Suryavanshi failed to fire for the Men in Blue, the team eventually chased down the modest target that USA had set for them.
Indian bowlers dominate
After being invited to bat first, USA batters struggled from the get-go. Henil got into action straight away and dismissed Amrinder Gill in the second over. The side suffered a batting collapse after the duo of Sahil Garg and Arjun Mahesh put some runs on the board. Henil was at the center of it all and picked up two wickets in the 12th over.
Left-arm spinner Khilan Patel soon joined the party and racked up the wicket of Amogh Reddy Arrepally as USA went down to 39/5 at one stage. They desperately needed a solid partnership and the duo of Adnit Jhamb and Nitish Reddy Sudini tried to provide them with that. The duo started putting runs on the board in a steady pace and looked to be settled on the crease.
However, the partnership didn't last for very long as RS Ambrish dismissed Jhamb for 18 runs in the 25th over. Wickets started to once again tumble for the USA as their batters crumbled under pressure. Henil got two wickets on consecutive deliveries in the 35th over and completed his 5-fer, restricting the opposition down to 105/9. Suryavanshi was the one to get the last wicket of USA's innings as he sent their top-scorer Sudini back to the pavilion for 36 runs, bundling the team out for 107 runs. The rain arrived soon after and it saw the Men in Blue's target get reduced to 96 and their overs also went down to 37.
Kundu's gritty display leads India to victory
In reply, India also had a poor start as Suryavanshi had his stumps rattled by Ritvik Appidi for just two runs in the third over. Vedant Trivedi was the next to depart for the same score in the fifth over before Ayush Mhatre lost his wicket for 19 runs just two deliveries later. However, the duo of Vihaan Malhotra and Abhigyan Kundu took India close to the target with a 45-run stand. While the former lost his wicket for 18 runs, Kundu went on to play an unbeaten knock of 42 as India reached the target in 17.2 overs and won the match by six wickets.