NEW DELHI: With three straight victories under their belt, reigning champions India will try to maintain their winning streak when they play New Zealand in their U-19 World Cup super six stage match on Tuesday in Bloemfontein.
India will have the added benefit of playing on Tuesday at the Mangaung Oval, where they have played all three of their current matches, having advanced to the super six stage as the leaders of Group A.
Conversely, New Zealand moved to Bloemfontein from East London and will need to swiftly adjust to the environment.
India defeated Bangladesh, Ireland, and the United States with relative ease. The 'Boys in Blue' performed admirably in the next two games, despite the record five-time winners' slight batsmanship versus their Asian opponents in the first game.
The fact that at least one or two Indian hitters raised their hands and accepted responsibility for scoring runs is what makes them the best on the squad.
Third batter in the order The Mumbai batter who has been a regular in the lineup, Mursheer Khan, is the younger brother of Sarfaraz. After the group stage, Mursheer is the third-highest run scorer in the tournament with a century and a fifty.
Since he hasn't been able to build on his two starts in the past two games, Adarsh Singh will be hoping to score a lot, while fellow opener Arshin Kulkarni will be feeling quite confident following his incredible century.
Uday Saharan
, the captain, has had a significant innings and will try to keep it up.
Naman Tiwari, a left-arm pacer, has shown exceptional skill with the ball. In the next two games, he has taken four wickets apiece after going wicketless against Bangladesh.
Saumy Pandey
, a left-arm spinner who aims to target the stumps with reasonably accurate deliveries, has also shown promise. He currently has eight scalps and the second-best economy (2.01) in the competition.
New Zealand had two victories from three games to finish second in Group D. In the tournament, the Kiwi batting lineup has not fared well.
They managed to win by a whisker against Afghanistan, where they were chasing a meek 91 runs, but they lost badly versus Pakistan, losing by ten wickets, being bowled out for 140.
The onus will be on the Kiwi batters to support the bowling unit against a strong India lineup.
Each team will carry over the points and NRR they earned against other Super Six qualifying teams, so both sides will also be monitoring their NRR.
Squads:
India: Uday Saharan (c), Arshin Kulkarni, Adarsh Singh, Rudra Mayur Patel,
Sachin Dhas
, Priyanshu Moliya, Musheer Khan, Aravelly Avanish Rao, Saumy Kumar Pandey, Murugan Abhishek, Innesh Mahajan, Dhanush Gowda, Aaradhya Shukla, Raj Limbani and Naman Tiwari
New Zealand: Oscar Jackson (c), Mason Clarke,
Sam Clode
,
Zac Cumming
,
Rahman Hekmat
,
Tom Jones
, James Nelson,
Snehith Reddy
, Matt Rowe, Ewald Schreuder, Lachlan Stackpole, Oliver Tewatiya, Alex Thompson,
Ryan Tsourgas
, Luke Watson
(With PTI inputs)
English (US) ·