Indian colts take on Scotland today

India’s Sarfraz Khan was the man of the match. — Courtesy ICC

The Indian Under-19s take the next step towards their title defence when they take on Scotland Under-19s in their second Group A fixture of the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

Having been under the pump twice — while batting and then defending — against Pakistan, the India colts managed to script a win in their tournament opener in Dubai on Friday.

With the first tough game, a high-pressure one at that, out of the way, India will be looking to get past Scotland and virtually seal their passage to the Super League segment of the competition.

But they still need to iron out a few chinks in batting and bowling if they are to successfully defend their title. India were precariously placed against Pakistan and were 94 for four with almost 30 overs still left to bat out.

Mumbai lad Sarfaraz Khan and Kerala’s Sanju Samson then did some damage control before guiding India to 262 for seven. Khan made 74, while Samson scored 68. It was the first time that India had scored over 200 against Pakistan in eight Under-19 World Cup games.

Pakistan were in the hunt before falling 40 runs short. Deepak Hooda took a five-wicket haul.

With the World Cup crown sitting on their head, India will have to tighten up a little bit as teams will be out to hunt them down. The fact that they lost both their warm-up games—to Sri Lanka and South Africa—means teams know that they can indeed be beaten.

A win against Scotland will see them take on Papua New Guinea in their last Group A engagement in Sharjah on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Scotland too have win after beating Papua New Guinea comfortably by six wickets, in their opening game. But India would be a totally different ball game altogether.

In the other match in Dubai, Pakistan will be looking for their first win when they take on Papua New Guinea at the ICC Academy. At the Shaikh Zayed International Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, Afghanistan take on Australia at the Nursery Oval 2, while Bangladesh meet Namibia at the Nursery Oval 1, in Group B fixtures.

james@khaleejtimes.com

TODAY’S MATCHES

>India vs Scotland, Dubai International Cricket Stadium

>Pakistan vs Papua New Guinea, ICC Academy, Dubai

>Afghanistan vs Australia, Nursery Oval 2, Abu Dhabi

>Bangladesh vs Namibia, Nursery Oval 1, Abu Dhabi