U19 World Cup: Gill, Nagarkoti too good for Bangladesh, India in semis

India broke the Bangladesh jinx with an all-round performance, winning the match by a big margin of 131 runs to advance to the semi final of the U-19 World Cup for the seventh time in Queenstown, New Zealand on Friday.

India will face archrivals Pakistan on January 30 for a spot in the final of the U-19 World Cup.

Pacers Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh Nagarkoti armed with some terrific fielding performance bowled Bangladesh out for 134 in the quarterfinal encounter.

Bangladesh were never quite in the game, chasing a target of 266, as the Indian seamers picked up wickets in regular intervals to choke their chase.

Nagarkoti, who has been making headlines with his extra pace and bounce returned with 3 wickets for 18 runs. His accuracy along with a more than lively pace of over 140 km/h troubled almost all the Bangladesh batsmen.

Nagarkoti was not only turning heads with his bowling; he was also a live wire in the field. He pulled off a brilliant run out by throwing the ball back to the keeper even when he was yet to complete his dive that triggered a collapse in the Bangladesh innings.  

After the onslaught of the seamers, the Indian spinners Anukul Roy (1/14) and Abhishek Sharma (2/11) ripped through the fragile Bangladesh middle order.

Earlier, batting first, the Indian innings was steered by another well-compiled innings by Shubman Gill, who scored a valiant 86 off 94 balls.

After Manjot Kalra (9) fell early, India’s two best batsmen, Prithvi Shaw and Shubman rose to the occasion to lay a strong foundation for the Indian innings. Captain Shaw, yet to score big in this tournament, changed his approach slightly, molding his batting style according to the situation. Shaw took his time early on, leaving the scoring responsibility to an in-form Gill.

The duo put together 86-runs for the second wicket, before Prithvi fell to spinner Qazi for 40. The captain’s dismissal did not affect Gill’s flow. He continued to display and exhibition, using  both his front and back foot to counter the Bangladesh spinners.

He was well supported by wicket-keeper Harvik Desai, who rotated the strike and did not let the pressure climb on Gill, who was scoring at almost a run a ball.

When India were looking well set for a big total, off-spinner Nayeem Hasan changed the course of the match by picking up both set batsmen Desai and Gill.

Desai was out bowled for 34 and an over later, Nayeem got the big wicket of Gill for 86, who was guilty of going for a steer down thirdman to a delivery that was not so wide.

Coming in to bat at No. 6, all-rounder Abhishek Sharma, played a match changing innings of 50 in just 49 balls to take India’s total over 250. Some quick wickets in the latter part of the Indian innings, meant they were bowled out for 265.