Arshin Kulkarni smashed a century of strokes before pacer Naman Tiwari's took four wickets as India registered an easy 201-run win over the USA in their final group match of the U-19 World Cup in Bloemfontein, South Africa on Sunday. With the win, defending champions India continued their unbeaten run in the tournament. India, who had already clinched a Super Six berth after winning their first two matches, will move to the next stage as leaders of Group A. Left opener Arshin (108) played with the bat while number three Musheer Khan (73) played the perfect second fiddle as India piled up a mammoth 326 for five after being asked to bat.
The bowlers, led by left-arm pacer Tiwari (4/20), then complemented the Indian batting unit perfectly, stopping the minnows USA at a paltry 125 for 8 in 50 overs.
The US never looked equipped to overwhelm the huge target and their chase got off to an uncertain start as Tiwari and fellow pacer Raj Limbani (1/17) sizzled off the new ball and ran through the US in top order in the first 10 overs.
Limbani sent back Prannav Chettipalayam in the very first over, while Tiwari showed the same accuracy as against Ireland, clearing opener Bhavya Patel in the second over before removing skipper Rishi Ramesh in the eighth over.
His other scalps included the determined Utkarsh Srivastava, who top-scored for the US with a 73-ball 40, and Manav Nayak.
Earlier, India was expected to dominate with the bat. However, the record five-time champions lost some steam towards the end of the innings as American bowlers took away wickets at regular intervals.
While the left-handed Arshin scored 108, his 118-run knock, peppered with eight hits on the fence and three maximums, Musheer hit 73 off 76 balls.
The 18-year-old, who is Sarfaraz Khan's younger brother, continued his good run as he formed a vital 155-run partnership with Arshin.
Though Musheer departed after hitting six boundaries and a solitary six, Arshin continued to soldier on in his side and anchored the Indian innings.
Falling on 16 in the 14th over, he brought up his century in style, firing the ball through his short fine leg for a boundary, much to the delight of his parents who cheered their son on from the stands.
Spinner Rishi Ramesh managed to get USA back into the match by dismissing Musheer, who looked to clear the cover fielder but instead moved to short third in the 36th over.
A few overs later, USA struck in quick succession, removing skipper Uday Sharan, who played a handy role with a 27-ball 35, and setting batsman Arshin within the space of six balls.
Both batters were looking to accelerate. Sharan fell to a delivery from Arya Garg, while Ateendra Subramanian got the prized wicket of Arshin, who hit a short and slow ball straight to the fielder at long-off.
Cameos from Sachin Dhas (20), Priyanshu Moliya (27 not out) and Aravelly Avanish (12 not out) took India over the 300-run mark.
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