India scored up their biggest win in the history of Under-19 World Cup, both in terms of wickets and balls to spare, when they hammered Papua New Guinea by 10 wickets and 252 balls to spare in their second group match at the Bay Oval on Tuesday, 16 January.
Prior to this, India’s biggest win came against the English side in the 2000 edition of the tournament in Sri Lanka. India playing England in the quarter-final went onto win by 10 wickets after they chased down the target of 183 losing only one wicket. India, under the leadership of Mohammad Kaif, eventually went onto win the tournament.
Tuesday’s win was historic in terms of balls to spare as well. It eclipsed India’s previous record against Sri Lanka in 2010, when they reached their target of 53 with 245 balls to spare.
Anukul Roy’s five for 14 in 6.5 overs against Papua New Guinea is the second-best bowling figure by an Indian in an Under-19 World Cup. Roy foxed the batsmen from the island nation with his leg spins as their last five batsmen managed to score only two runs in total.
Papua New Guinea got skittled out for the fourth lowest total in the history of the tournament when they ended their innings at 64 on Tuesday.
Incidentally, the minnows also hold the record for scoring the lowest team total of 58 in an Under-19 World Cup, when they were bowled out by the same opponent in Sharjah in 2014.
With this win, India qualifies for the quarter-finals. Papua New Guinea, who are in all probability out of the tournament, play Australia next on Friday as India take on Zimbabwe on the same day.
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