The shimmering event of young colts – the ICC Under-19 World Cup 2016 has reached its knockout stage. During the course, a select few will sail through and rest will sink behind in a tough counteraction. In the knockout stage, the home team Bangladesh will face Nepal on Friday, India are scheduled to play against Namibia, England will fight Sri Lanka and Pakistan will look for chances against West Indies in the days ahead.
Keeping the spirit high, young cricketers from different nations, have shows brilliant cricketing performances so far. Here are some notable performances:
Batsmen:
U-19 batsmen from England – Jack Burnham and Dan Lawrence lead the chart of highest run-scorers with 298 and 288 runs respectively, in three matches. Following them, Pakistan’s Nazmul Shanto (200), West Indies’ Shamar Shanto (183) and Sarfaraz Khan (169) of India, hold following positions in the top five run-scorers.
Bowlers:
England U-19 spearhead Saqib Mahmood (11) is the highest wicket-taker after three matches. Shadab Khan (PAK), Avesh Khan (IND) with 9 wickets each and Alzar Joseph (WI), Wesley Madhevere (SA) with 8 wickets make up the top 5. After some hard-fought clashes, teams that managed to book the place for quarter-final knockouts, have a special story to tell of their successful journey. Amidst all the statistics, India Under-19 team looks in a favourable gloss.
Unbeaten thus far – Indian colts:
Sarfaraz Khan’s 74 off 70 balls and Washington Sundar’s 62 off 71 balls powered India to a 79-run win against Ireland in their opening match. Supported by the right-arm pacer Rahul Batham’s 3 wickets, the Indians wrapped Ireland for 189 runs.
Keeping up the winning momentum, India stunned New Zealand by 120 runs in their second match. Sarfaraz again scored 74 runs to take India to a competitive total of 258 runs. Avesh Khan and Mahipal Lomror took 4 and 5 wickets respectively as New Zealand collapsed for 138 runs.
In their third match, Indian opener Rishabh Pant scored a devastating 78 runs and skipper Ishan Kishan supported with his 52 runs to beat Nepal by 7 wickets.
Akash Khanna | FollowYourSport