Firm favourites India started their U19 World Cup defence in fine fashion as they comfortably beat Sri Lanka by 90 runs.?
The four time champions put up a daunting score of 297 on the board batting first. Riding primarily on the knocks of opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (59 off 74 balls) and skipper Priyam Garg (56 off 72 balls), at the top of the order, which set the stage for the onslaught late on.?
There were significant contributions from the middle order with vice-captain Dhruv Jurel (52 off 48 balls) and late entrant all-rounder Siddhesh Veer (44 off 27 balls and 2/34 in 6 overs), which took the total close to the 300-run mark.
It was a promising start to the campaign for the Indian batsmen and they would be looking to continue in the same vein of form in the coming matches. The bowlers too did their job to restrict Sri Lanka to 207.?
Fast bowler Kartik Tyagi (1/27 in 7.2 overs), who already has a multi-crore IPL contract, was the most impressive as he time and again breached the 140kmph mark. The opposition batsmen found his short ball difficult to handle.
Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi (2/44 in 10 overs), who will be seen donning Kings XI Punjab colours in the IPL, showed good control, not letting the batsmen get away with anything.
Left-arm seamer Akash Singh (2/29 in 9 overs) brought the ball back into the right-hander with rival skipper Nipun Dananjaya (50) being the only batsman, who looked comfortable out there in the middle.
It was a total team effort by the young colts who outclassed their South Asian neighbours in all departments of the game with a thoroughly professional performance.? '
A great start to the campaign for the boys in blue and an early reminder to other teams that this Indian side means business. With the talented faces such as Yashasvi Jaiswal,?Kartik Tyagi, Priyam Garg, and Akash Singh shown great character, it bodes well for India's chances to lift the trophy for the record fifth time.?
India take on Japan next, and will be upbeat to put in another clinical performance.??