Raj Bawa and Angkrish Raghuvanshi smashed fine centuries as India recorded their second-highest score in an Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup match to crush Uganda by a massive 326 runs, as the four-time champions went through as group winners to the Super League of the ICC U-19 World Cup at the Brian Lara Stadium here on Sunday (IST).
Thanks to opener Raghuvanshi’s 120-ball 144 and Bawa’s unbeaten 162 off just 108 deliveries, which came at a strike rate of 150, India notched up 405 for 5 in the allotted 50 overs and then bundled out their opponents for just 79 runs, winning their last Group B match by 326 runs.
India will now take on defending champions Bangladesh in the quarterfinal at the Coolidge Cricket Ground on January 29.
India’s 405/5 is only behind their 425/3 against Scotland in 2004. In the game, Shikhar Dhawan had slammed an unbeaten 155, the previous highest individual score for India at an ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup.
Earlier, Bawa and Raghuvanshi powered India past several batting records as they set Uganda an insurmountable total of 405. After captain Nishant Sindu fell for 15 in the 16th over, Raghuvanshi and Bawa worked together to add 206 runs in 22.4 overs.
Opener Raghuvanshi was eventually dismissed for 144 runs. Bawa then continued to pile on the runs as Kaushal Tambe and Dinesh Bana made useful cameos.
By the time the left-hander Bawa reached 150, 66 per cent of his runs had come from boundaries and at the close of the innings, he held the highest score of the tournament, surpassing the 154 not out from England’s Tom Prest, to end with 162 from 108 balls including 14 fours and eight sixes.
Uganda’s challenge got even tougher as opener Isaac Ategeka was forced to retire having been struck on the forearm by a Rajvardhan Hangargekar delivery. The right-arm seamer then dismissed his replacement Cyrus Kakuru for a first-ball duck off the final ball of an eventful first over.
Captain Pascal Murungi, who earlier took Uganda’s best figures of 3/72, batted bravely for 34 but could not stop the inevitable victory as Uganda ended on 79 for nine from 19.4 overs with Ategeka unable to retake the field.
The 326-run victory is India’s largest at an ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup, and the second-highest ever, and sets them up for a replay of the 2020 final against Bangladesh, while Uganda will face the UAE in the plate quarterfinals.
Earlier, the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Event Technical Committee for the tournament approved Vasu Vats as a replacement for Manav Parakh in the India squad.
Vats is a temporary replacement for Parakh who has tested positive for COVID-19 and is undergoing a period of isolation. A COVID replacement can be temporary; in that once the player has recovered he would be eligible to return to the squad in position of the player that replaced him.
Brief scores: India 405/5 in 50 overs (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 144, Raj Bawa 162 not out, Dinesh Bana 22; Pascal Murungi 3/72) beat Uganda 79 in 19.4 overs (Pascal Murungi 34; Nishant Sindhu 4/19, Rajvardhan Hangargekar 2/8) by 326 runs.
