India thrash Afghanistan in U-19 World Cup opener

Defending champions India started their quest for a second successive title in style, thrashing qualifiers Afghanistan by eight wickets in their opening Group A match of the ICC Under-19 cricket World Cup in Lincoln today.

Defending champions India started their quest for a second successive title in style, thrashing qualifiers Afghanistan by eight wickets in their opening Group A match of the ICC Under-19 cricket World Cup in Lincoln on Friday.

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Indian skipper Ashok Maneria elected to field in the lop-sided encounter and his bowlers kept the faith by packing off the minnows for 118 in 49.2 overs.

Chasing the paltry target, Indian batsmen hardly broke a sweat and romped to 122 for two in just 25.2 overs.

For Afghanistan, skipper Noor-ul-Haq waged a lone battle with a painfully slow 61-run knock that came off 119 balls.

The rest of the Afghan line-up flopped in unison with eight batsmen failing to touch double figures.

India's new-ball pair of Sandeep Sharma and Saurabh Netravalkar, who bowled for 20 overs in a row, were exceptionally hostile against an inexperienced team that defied the odds to make the cut for the elite under-19 event.

Netravalkar was the pick of the lot with figures of 2 for 23. Sandeep also scalped one and the duo shared three top-order wickets between them.