U19 World Cup 2018: India vs Zimbabwe - 5 Talking Points

The final encounter of Group C at the U19 World Cup 2018 between India and Zimbabwe held significant importance for the Zimbabweans as they required to defeat India to keep their quarter-final hopes alive. Meanwhile, they also required Papua New Guinea to shock Australia in the other group game.

However, neither happened and they crashed out of the tournament. On the other hand, India needed to win the game to officially register a berth in the next round. Prithvi Shaw’s men were comprehensive and humbled Zimbabwe by ten wickets.

Nevertheless, there were some major contributions and intriguing moments from the game. In our article, we take a look at the five talking points from the contest.

#1 Zimbabwe batsmen’s inability to convert starts

Substantial scores by batsmen are paramount in order for a team to register a daunting target for the opposition to chase down. For that, the batters need to grind hard and then press the accelerator when required. Zimbabwe batsmen ground hard but faltered to carry on.

Wesley Madhevere opened for the Zimbabweans and looked solid during his stint with three classical boundaries. However, Riyan Parag went through his defence to bring the curtain’s down on a promising knock after he scored 30 off 54 balls.

Milton Shumba played well but fell prey to Anukul Roy as he was stumped after scoring 36 runs off 59 balls. Skipper Liam Roche had to come to the party and he seemed fluent enough to propel his team’s score. However, Roy knocked his stumps back to dent Zimbabwe.

#2 Indian spinners choke Zimbabwe

The Indian spinners didn’t have much to do during India’s opening game against Australia as the pacers grabbed the headlines. However, left-arm spinner Anukul Roy bagged a five-wicket haul against Papua New Guinea which helped India bowl them out for a modest total.

In India’s third game, the spinners put forth another decent performance as they were able to tie down the Zimbabwe batsmen. The likes of Shiva Singh, Riyan Parag, Anukul Roy and Abhishek Sharma were right on the money and hardly dished out loose deliveries.

Zimbabwe threatened to build the foundation for a decent total with a couple of partnerships, but the tweakers churned wickets out to push them further back. Roy yet again stood out among the bowlers with four wickets in his quota.

#3 Indian fast-bowlers haven’t leaked runs either  

The likes of Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh Nagarkoti have been lauded for their masterful display of bowling against the Aussies. They carried forward their form against PNG and picked up four wickets at the rate of peanuts.

In India’s third and final group-game the fast-bowlers weren’t at their fluent best but bowled adequately enough to complement the performances by the spinners. Mavi and Nagarkoti were staved off expertly by the Zimbabwe batsmen, but the duo bowled 62 dot-deliveries to restrict the opposition batsmen.

Apart from the Mavi-Nagarkoti partnership, left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh also bowled exceedingly well. He was frugal and also picked up a couple of wickets of Dion Myers and Taun Harrison in his quota of eight overs.

#4 Harvik Desai’s calm approach

Harvik Desai showed impressive glove-work as he was quick wtih his reflexes to send back Milton Shumba and Alistair Frost in the first innings. India qualified for the quarter-finals, thus Prithvi Shaw & Co decided to make some amendments to the batting order.

Harvik was sent to open during India’s run-chase and he didn’t let his captain and the team down. He compiled a clam and composed knock of 56 runs off 73 balls, which included eight boundaries and one massive hit over the ropes.

He played out a maiden-over to start with and took 15 balls to get off the mark. However, his knock gained fluency as he produced some delightful strokes, both of the pacers and the spinners.

#5 Shubman Gill’s belligerence

Gill impressed in his recent first-class debut for Punjab and racked up his maiden ton in the Ranji Trophy. The Punjab-batsman replicated his stupendous form in the ongoing U19 World Cup in New Zealand. He played a blistering hand against Australia in the first encounter.

However, he didn’t get an opportunity to bat in India’s second game against PNG. Nevertheless, against Zimbabwe, he was entrusted to open the batting and he didn’t disappoint one bit and emerged as the Man of the Match in the one-sided encounter.

He went hammer and tongs from the outset and helped India trace down the target with 28 overs to spare. During his knock, he spanked his way to 14 boundaries and one hit into the stands. The Indian vice-captain is expected to play a major role in the business end of the tournament.

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