Half centuries from opener Adarsh Singh and captain Uday Saharan, and a four-wicket haul from left-arm spinner Saumy Pandey guided the India U-19 team to a 84-run win against Bangladesh in their U-19 World Cup opener at Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein.
After being asked to bat, Adarsh came up with a sedate 76 off 96 deliveries to set the tone before rebuilding the innings after a minor collapse with skipper Uday, whose patient 64 off 94 deliveries was instrumental in guiding India to 251.
In the process, the duo came up with a 116-run stand for the third wicket before cameos from Priyanshu Moliya (23), Aravelly Avanish (26) and Sachin Dhas (26) took India to the total.
For Bangladesh, Maruf Mridha was the pick of bowlers, returning with figures of 5/43.
In reply, Bangladesh lost the first four wickets with 50 runs on the board, thanks to Pandey’s twin strikes early on, before Ariful Islam (41) and Mohammed Shihab James (54) resurrected the innings with a 77-run stand.
And once the duo was separated by Musheer Khan, the Indian spinners triggered a procession of the Bangladeshi batters to eventually skittle them for 167 in 45.5 overs.
While Pandey starred with figures of 4/24, Musheer Khan (2/35), Raj Limbani (1/25), Ashin Kulkarni (1/19) and Priyanshu Moliya (1/7) also chipped in with wickets at crucial junctures of the contest.
India will next take on Ireland on January 25 at the same venue.