Indian batsmen continued their roaring form with a record fastest-ever century by vice-captain Ajay Kumar Reddy (131 runs in 48 balls) and captain Shekar Naik joining the party remaining unbeaten on 134 off 58 balls. The duo together put on a double century partnership putting the English bowlers to the sword with Ajay hammering 27 fours and reaching his ton in only 34 balls and Naik belting 23 boundaries. India ended their innings at 325 for 3 wickets. The score would have been even bigger but for some fine fielding by the Englishmen. In reply, England managed only 151 for 7 due to some excellent bowling by Ajay Kumar Reddy and Subash Bhoya. Like in the earlier match against Australia, Indians continued to be very agile on the field.
World record maker Ajay Kumar Reddy who played some scintillating drives on either side of the V, said it took a little time for him to get used to the swing and pace of the pitch and after that, he literally took the bowlers to the cleaners.
Brief scores: India 325 for 3 (Shekar Naik 134 n.o. (58); Ajay Kumar Reddy 131 (48)) bt England 151 for 7 (Luke Sugg 48 (17); Hassan Khan 32 (18); (Ajay Kumar Reddy 2 for 17; Subash Bhoya 2 for 35) by 174 runs.
In the other match, Pakistan handed South Africa a resounding defeat riding on a magnificent ton by Mohammad Zohaib Ghafoor who remained unbeaten on 156 off 52 balls. He was ably supported by Mohammad Jaffer (B1) who also remained not out on 82 off 28 balls and Mohammad Akram (B3) chipping in with 69 off 27 balls. Chasing a huge 358 South African could manage to score only 116 for 7 wickets. Pakistan thus won by a margin of 253 runs – one of the highest ever recorded in the tournament.
After losing to India in the opener Australia returned to its winning ways defeating West Indies by 64 runs. Asked to bat first, Australia scored 239 for 6 aided by a captain’s knock of 60 runs in 37 balls by Mathew Horsey (B3) , apart from useful contribution from Lindsay Heaven (B2) (59 in 50 balls). In reply, West Indies were all out for 174 with some fine bowling by Raymond Moxly (B3) who took 3 for 38.
Easy win for Lanka
Sri Lanka rode on a brilliant century by Dimuthu Ravindra (B1) (134 in 64 balls) to hand an easy defeat to Nepal today. Nepal’s decision to put the Lankans to bat first proved a costly mistake as first Ravindra and then Deshapriya (B3) (75 in 38 balls) hammered the Nepalese bowlers posting a strong 314 for 3 in 20 overs. The target proved to be stiff for Nepal whose batsmen faltered as they lost by 178 runs.
Brief scores: SL 314-3 (Ravindra 134 (64); Deshapriya 75 (38)) (Aamar Oli 1-55, Surya Prasad 1-48) bt Nepal 137 for 6 (R Karunatilak 1 for 48, S Gunawardana 1-10).