India brush past Bangladesh to finish top

Group C India U19 309 for 7 (Dhawan 120, Uthappa 59) beat Bangladesh U19 178 (Aftab Ahmed 44) by 131 runs
Scorecard

India eased past Bangladesh by 131 runs at Dhaka to finish top of Group C and ensure their path to the Super League.

After being asked to bat first, India wasted no time in piling on the runs. The opening pair of Robin Uthappa and Shikhar Dhawan made a perfect start, posting the hundred partnership in quick time with a brace of boundaries.

Uthappa was eventually out for 59, having put on 135 with Dhawan, who continued his procession. He put on valuable partnerships with the rest of the middle order before he was eventually out for an impressive 120 in the penultimate over.

Bangladesh's reply never threatened India's daunting 309 for 7. Ahmed did his best to keep the bowlers at bay with a quickfire 44 from 29 balls, including nine boundaries, but Praveen Gupta and Abhishek Sharma, who took three wickets each, ran their way through the top and middle order as Bangladesh were all out for 178.

Richard McInnes, the Bangladesh coach, said he believed his players would learn from the experience of playing a strong India side. "The occasion overwhelmed the team," he said. "There were enormous pressures created by expectations on them. However, the team is still learning. This experience will be useful to them. They will get used to playing under pressure, noise and high quality opposition.

"The bowling was more disciplined today. Not many extras were conceded. They just came up against a powerful batting line-up that performed well today."

Robin Singh, India's coach, refused to get carried away with a third consecutive victory. "There can never be a perfect day, performances can always improve and today the batsmen could have performed better," said Singh. "Each match will be treated just like any other game as thinking too much creates unnecessary pressures. This undermines the performance of the team. We must just ensure that the team plays well consistently."