Jadeja bowls India U-19s to victory

India Under-19s 259 (Khadiwale 75, Kohli 65) and 82 for 3 (Srivastava 34*, Adams 2-16) beat South Under-19s 164 (Rossouw 83, Sangwan 3-37, Jadeja 2-12) and 176 (Malan 77, Jadeja 5-32) by seven wickets
Scorecard

India Under-19s continued their good form with a seven-wicket win over South Africa, to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.

India's win was set up by their bowlers who restricted South Africa to less than 200 in both innings. Ravindra Jadeja, the left-arm spinner, took seven in the match including 5 for 32 in South Africa's second innings.

Bowling first, India put themselves in an excellent position after dismissing the hosts for a paltry 164. Only Riley Rossouw stood in their way with 83, and just two other batsmen reached double figures. Pradeep Sangwan took 3 for 37, while Harshad Khadiwale, Garikina Prasad and Jadeja bagged a couple each.

Khadiwale then led India's reply, putting on an unbeaten century stand with Abhinav Mukund at the close of the first day's play. South Africa's bowlers performed little better on the second, restricting India to a lead of 95. Khadiwale, Mukund and Virat Kohli, the captain, scored fifties for India, but the rest of the batsmen failed to drive home the advantage.

South Africa's top order then wiped clean the deficit, finishing day two on 116 for 1, leading by 21. However, India fought back on the final day to dismiss the hosts for 176, with Jadeja picking up five, leaving them a mere 82 to chase.

India's batsmen needed only 15.4 overs to complete an emphatic seven-wicket win. Tanmay Srivastava was unbeaten on 34, while Roy Adams picked up two wickets in his three overs.

The second and final match of the series begins in Chatsworth on January 16.