Mount Maunganui, Jan 14 (PTI) In an authoritative show,Indian colts trounced Australia by a massive 100-run margin intheir ICC Under 19 World Cup opener with bowlers complementinga splendid batting performance, here.
Skipper Prithvi Shaw led from the front with a 94-runknock and shared a 180-run stand with fellow opener ManjotKalra (86) to power India to a challenging 328 for seven.
There was no respite for the Australians even after theirdeparture with Shubhman Gill tormenting the bowlers with his63-run knock.
India pacers Kamlesh Nagrakoti (3/29) and Shivam Mavi(3/45) then impressed with their speed and shared six wicketsbetween them to shot out Australia for 228 in 42.5 overs.
Nagarkoti hit the deck consistently at a speed in therange of 150kmph and was well supported by Mavi, who alsoclocked 145 at times. The two pacers tested Australians withtheir nagging off-stump line.
Australia opener Jack Edwards top-scored for his sidewith a 73-run knock after a steady start with Max Bryant (29)but struggled to find support from others.
Jonathan Merlo (38) tried his best in the middle orderand stumper Baxtor Holt (39) resisted in a rearguard fight butboth were undone by Mavi.
India next play Papua New Guinea on Tuesday.
The splendid top-order batting vindicated Shaw's decisionto bat in their tournament-opener.
It was not that Shaw and Klara plundered boundaries,instead they raised their knocks with some stupendous risk-free batting.
Shaw, though, missed out on a century by six runs as hewas caught behind off Will Sutherland, son of CricketAustralia CEO James Sutherland.
The Indian captain faced 100 balls and scored eightboundaries, including two sixes in his knock.
His opening partner also missed out on a ton, falling for86 which came off 99 balls with 12 shots to the fence and onover the ropes.
There were no steady partnerships after their departureeven as Gill kept one end solid with his 54-ball knock whichhad six fours and a six.
The middle order batsmen lost their wickets, trying toaccelerate the run-rate as Himanshu Rana (14) and Anukul Roy(6) fell cheaply.
Abhishek Sharma though managed to come up with a 8-ball23-run cameo which propelled India past the 300-run mark. Hehit two sixes and as many fours.
As Indian batsmen looked for some quick runs, Australianmedium fast bowler Jack Edwards ended up taking four wickets.
It was Edwards, who dismissed Rana and then later addedwickets of Abhishek and Shiva Singh (10) to his tally. PTI ATBSBS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.