India Defeated Ireland By 174 Runs To Reach The Quarterfinals Of The U-19 World Cup

Nishant Sindhu led India in Yash Dull’s absence as he tested positive for Covid-19

India stormed into the Super League quarterfinals of the ICC U-19 World Cup after defeating Ireland by 174 runs.

India started its campaign on a winning note, beating South Africa by 45 and the win on 19th Jan by such a huge margin is significant as the team fielded only the available 11 players after six members of the side were forced into isolation after testing COVID-19 positive.

India was led by Nishant Sindhu as Yash Dull tested Covid positive.

Left-handed Harnoor and Angriksh stitched a 164-run stand at the top to ensure the Indian bowlers had a decent total to defend.

Harnoor hit 12 fours in his 101-ball knock while Angriksh found 10 boundaries and two sixes.

Stand-in skipper Nishant Sindhu (36 off 34) and Raj Bawa (42 off 64) shared a 64-run stand for the third wicket, ensuring that the platform created by the openers was well-utilised to set a big score.

Just when it seemed India lacked enough firepower towards the end as big hits had dried up, Rajvardhan Hangargekar hit five sixes, including a hat-trick of maximums in the last over, in his fiery 17-ball 39-run unbeaten cameo that took India past the 300-run mark.

Chasing 308, Ireland got off to a bad start as Liam Doherty (7) and Jack Dickson (0) lost their wickets. Ireland’s trouble increased when David Vincent (8) was sent back to the pavilion via run out in the 7th over of the innings, reducing them to 17/3.

Ireland kept losing their wickets and was bundled out for 162 runs.

The 2022 ICC under 19 Cricket World Cup is being held in the West Indies for the first time with 16 teams taking part in the competition.