Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 9:
India ‘B’ upstaged India ‘A’ by three wickets in the final round-robin match of the quadrangular under-19 ODI series here today, while South Africa edged Afghanistan by nine runs in an inconsequential game.
With the two teams having qualified for the March 11 final, India ‘B’ scraped through in a low-scoring encounter after dismissing the opposition for 129 in 40.3 overs at St Xavier’s KCA Cricket Ground.
In the dress rehearsal before the final, opener Arya Sethi’s half-century (51) set up the win for India ‘B’, before Atharva Vinod Ankolekar’s unbeaten 29 off 65 balls saw the team home despite a mini collapse.
Earlier, India ‘A’ lost opener Arjun Azad (1) in the second over and never seemed to recover as wickets fell at regular intervals.
Opener Yashasvi Bhupendra Jaiswal hammered four boundaries and a six in his 27-ball 30 but fell to left-arm spinner Shivam Sharma to leave the team at 54 for four.
Wicketkeeper Dhruv Chand Jurel made 40 and a late resistance from No. 9 Harsh Dubey (23) took India ‘A’ to 129.
In the chase, India ‘B’ lost opener Varun Lavande early but Arya Sethi was in an attacking frame of mind and kept the scoreboard ticking.
Ankolekar batted patiently to take India ‘B’ home, putting on 30 runs for the eighth wicket with Purnank Tyagi (14 not out).
In the other match, South Africa beat Afghanistan by nine runs to finish with one win from three games. The Afghan colts lost all the matches.
South Africa made 200 all out in 49.5 overs thanks to contributions from Luke Beaufort (40), Bryce Parsons (40) and Andile Mogakane (38).
Afghanistan faltered in the chase and was 29 for three before Farhan Khan (63, 95 balls, 4X4, 1X6) and Reyaz Hassan (35, 62 balls, 2X4) were involved in a 88-run stand for the fourth wicket. (PTI)
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