Samson, Kuldeep propel India to massive win

A 48-ball 85 from Sanju Samson powered India Under-19s to a 245-run win over Papua New Guinea Under-19s in Sharjah. India's victory margin was the seventh-biggest in the history of youth ODIs.

Opting to bat, India started strongly, with Ankush Bains and Akhil Herwadkar putting on 58 in 11.2 overs. PNG's bowlers then put the brakes on India's scoring, as Vijay Zol and Bains went 83 balls without hitting a boundary till Bains pulled offspinner Hiri Hiri for a six to bring up his half-century in the 29th over. Seamer Alei Nao then ended their 74-run stand by bowling Zol for 35, and struck again in his next over to remove Bains for 59. India, at that point, were 139 for 3 in the 33rd over, their run rate well under 5 an over.

The batting Powerplay, which India took at the start of the 36th over, changed everything. Samson went berserk, hitting Sakavai Gebai, over the course of his seventh and eighth overs, for a sequence that read 6, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 6, hitting him hard, clean, and to both sides of the pitch. In between, Shreyas Iyer hit Kabua Morea for two fours in an over, as India took 54 from their five Powerplay overs.

Samson struck three more fours and two more sixes, and was dropped three times in two overs, before he was finally out in the 47th over. An unbeaten 18-ball 34 from Sarfaraz Khan propelled India's total to 301.

PNG's reply went nowhere, after Monu Kumar struck twice in his first over to leave them 3 for 2. A 30-run partnership between Riley Hekure and Dogodo Bau steadied their innings somewhat, before left-arm chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav ran through their batting to finish with figures of 4 for 10. PNG lost their last six wickets for four runs, and were bowled out for 56 in 28.2 overs. Medium-pacer Monu finished with three wickets, while offspinner Deepak Hooda took two.

Pakistan Under-19s joined India in the quarter-finals from Group A, after a 146-run win over Scotland Under-19s in Dubai. A century from Imam-ul-Haq guided Pakistan to 308 for 7, before a five-wicket haul from legspinner Karamat Ali helped them bowl Scotland out for 162 in 39.5 overs.

Pakistan lost captain Sami Aslam early, but Imam and Hasan Raza shared a 159-run second-wicket partnership before Raza was out to offspinner Ross McLean for an 89-ball 57. The left-handed Imam then put on 69 with Saud Shakeel for the third wicket, and was finally out for 133, having faced 137 balls and struck 13 fours and a six. Shakeel scored a 34-ball 40 and Kamran Ghulam struck a 16-ball 34 to push Pakistan past the 300-run mark. Medium-pacer Chris Sole was Scotland's most successful bowler, with figures of 3 for 69.

Barring opener Andrew Umeed, none of Scotland's top order had any answer to Pakistan's bowlers. Four of the top five fell for single-digit scores, three of them to Karamat, as Scotland crawled to 64 for 4 in 21.5 overs. Umeed then added 42 with Kyle Stirling for the fifth wicket and 30 with Alex Baum for the sixth, before he was out for a 100-ball 65. Umeed's wicket triggered a collapse, as Scotland lost their last five wickets for just 26 runs.