Stats: India Under-19s qualify for the U19 World Cup 2020 quarters with a record win over Japan

India Under-19s completed a thumping win over Japan in less than 28 overs on Tuesday in order to seal their Quarter-Final berth from Group A. The only other team to have confirmed their place in the Quarters thus far is West Indies of Group B. India elected to bowl first on a track where thumped Sri Lanka by 9 runs in their first match. The decision was influenced by weather forecast as there was a cloud hovering around the Mangaung Oval for the majority of the first innings.

Pacer Kartik Tyagi’s opening spell and leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi’s barrage of googlies ran through Japan who is part of the U19 CWC for the first time. India needed only 4.5 overs to chase down the target as Yashasvi Jaiswal scored an unbeaten 18-ball 29 with five fours and a six while Kumar Kushagra made 13* off 11. Japan’s total of 41/10 is now the joint 3rd lowest total in Youth ODI history and the joint 2nd lowest in U19 World Cup matches.

The lowest in both the lists was recorded by Scotland who were bundled out for only 22 in 22.3 overs against Australia in the 2004 U19 CWC. During the 2003 Youth Asia Cup, India ran through the Bangladesh team to skittle them to only 34 runs as Irfan Pathan ended up with a 9-wicket haul. The previous lowest total in U19 CWC against India was recorded by Papua New Guinea who were bowled out for only 56 while chasing a target of 302 in the 2014 edition. India completed the chase with 271 balls to spare which is now the 2nd biggest win in terms of balls to spare in Youth ODI cricket.

The largest such win is recorded by Australia in the 2004 U19 CWC where they chased down the target of 23 in 3.5 overs against Scotland without losing a wicket. India’s previous biggest win came when they chased down the target of 65 with 252 balls to spare against PNG in 2018 U19 CWC. Earlier on Monday, Australia needed only 46 balls to chase down 62-run target against Nigeria.

Japan’s innings is also only the 8th in Youth ODI history where none of the 11 batsmen got into double digits but the first instance in nearly 12 years. Opener Shu Noguchi and No.8 batsman Kento Ota Dobell recorded the highest individual score in Japan innings of 7 runs. This is now the 3rd lowest “highest individual score” during a Youth ODI innings. The lowest highest score is 5 runs during Canada’s 41/10 against South Africa in 2002 and also in Scotland’s 22/10 against Australia in 2004.

(Stats as on January 21, 2020)