ICC U-19 World Cup: India thrash South Africa in warm-up
The Indian U-19 team preparations for the upcoming ICC World Cup in New Zealand are in full swing as the boys in blue, coached by Rahul Dravid, thrashed South Africa by 189 runs in a warm-up fixture. Ishan Porel's four-wicket haul helped India in bundling out the Proteas side for 143. Here's more on how the match proceeded.
As the ICC U-19 World Cup is set to kick off on 12 Jan in New Zealand, India have fielded a 15-member squad spearheaded by skipper Prithvi Shaw. The players include : Prithvi Shaw (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Aryan Juyal, Abhishek Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, Harvik Desai, Manjot Kalra, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Pankaj Yadav, Riyan Parag, Ishan Porel, Himanshu Rana, Anukul Roy, Shivam Mavi, Shiva Singh.
India have won the U-19 World Cup thrice, a record they hold together with Australia. They made it to the final of last edition in Bangladesh which they lost to current champions, West Indies.
In one of their first warm-up fixtures India faced South Africa. Upon winning the toss, they chose to bat first against the Proteas. Getting off to a slow start, India still managed to post a good score of 322/8. Aryan Juyal and Himanshu Rana's 138-run stand cemented the innings for India with individual contributions of 86 and 68 respectively.
As has been the case with many of this edition's warm-up games, the chasing team failed to secure a victory. The South Africans never settled down, losing wickets at regular intervals. Jean Du Plessis was their highest scorer with a 50 off 82. Apart from the crucial 4-wicket haul by Ishan, Shiva Singh, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, and Abhishek Sharma picked two wickets each for India.
