India survive Scotland scare in ICC Under-19 World Cup

Sarfaraz Khan of India plays a shot during his match-winning knock against Scotland at Dubai Cricket Stadium. — KT photo by Shihab

While India survived a scare to get past Scotland by five wickets at the Dubai Sports City Stadium, Pakistan thrashed Papua New Guinea by 145 runs at the ICC Academy Ground. India are leading the table with four points after winning both their matches, while Pakistan have two points from two games.

Kuldeep Yadav took a hat-trick and helped India bundle out Scotland, who chose to bat first, for 88 in 29.4 overs. The 18-year old Yadav picked up four for 28 from his 10 overs and became the first Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in U-19 World Cup history.

The left-arm chinaman from Uttar Pradesh bamboozled the batsmen with variations in his attack.

He received good support from off-spinner Aamir Gani, who also finished with figures of 4-28.

However, the chase wasn’t as smooth as the Indians expected with Scotland upping the ante by taking some quick wickets to put the batsmen under pressure. They lost five wickets for 22 and the last recognised batting pair of Sarfaraz Khan and Deepak Hooda had a daunting task ahead of them.

New Delhi-born Chayank Gosain was the surprise package for Scotland with the left-arm spinner claiming the first three wickets. With pacer Gavin Main too joining the act with two wickets, the defending champions were in all sorts of trouble. Khan, who was the star performer in the match against Pakistan, once again bailed out his team in the company of Hooda, who played a sensible knock.

The duo added an unbeaten 70-run sixth-wicket partnership in 14.4 overs and guided India to victory with 165 balls to spare.

Khan smashed five fours and one six in his 51-ball 45, while Hooda remained not out on 24 off 40 deliveries with two hits to the fence. Meanwhile, opener Imam-ul-Haq turned out to be the star for Pakistan in their match against PNG.

Haq and Sami Aslam provided a 125-run partnership for the opening wicket as Pakistan went on to score a healthy 283 for the loss of eight wickets in 50 overs. Haq scored a composed 88 off 117 balls with nine boundaries, while skipper Aslam was impressive again, scoring 62 off 78 balls with 10 hits to the fence. Hasan Raza too chipped in with an useful 46-ball 44, including four boundaries and one six.

Left-arm medium-pacer Kabua Morea was the pick of the bowlers, bagging three for 45 from 10 overs, while Alei Nao and Riley Hekure took two wickets apiece. PNG’s chase wasn’t convincing at all, despite opener Kiplin Doriga scoring a half-century. The batsmen found it tough to negotiate left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar, who picked up four for 35 from 8.5 overs. Doriga was the lone batsman to make an impression, hitting one six and three boundaries in his 51 off 56 balls.

Zia-ul-Haq finished with figures of 2-26 from six overs as PNG succumbed to 138 all out in 30.5 overs.

pradeep@khaleejtimes.com