India B U19 inflict 3 run outs in final 4 balls to clinch thriller against South Africa U19

South Africa U19, chasing India-B U19's total of 198, needed 2 runs in 5 balls with 4 wickets in hand but collapsed, losing three wickets in the final over for no runs. Thanks to some superb fielding by the ‘B’ team in the 50th over, India 'B' pulled off a narrow one-run win

India ‘B’ team notched a memorable win at Trivandrum in the under-19 quadrangular one-day tournament, beating South Africa in a thrilling encounter on Thursday. South Africa U19, chasing India-B U19's total of 198, needed 2 runs in 5 balls with 4 wickets in hand but collapsed, losing three wickets in the final over for no runs. Thanks to some superb fielding by the ‘B’ team in the 50th over, India 'B' pulled off a narrow one-run win.

India 'B' elected to bat and struggled to 198 in 49.1 overs. Chasing 199, The Proteas were in a spot of bother at 79 for 5 before Mogakane started batting aggressively (178) to counter the varied India 'B' bowling attack. It was Mogakane’s dismissal that gave the Indians some hope after he stitched a fruitful 99-run partnership with Terblanche.

For India ‘B’, Captain Rahul Chandol revived his team's fortunes, by running out Terblanche off the second ball of the 50th over. Two more run-outs, one of J Jardine in the third ball and the other of N Yikha in the final ball with two required to win, skipper Chandol handed India 'B' a glorious victory.

Right-arm medium-pacer Siya Plaatjie took three wickets, conceding 40 runs.

India 'A' and 'B' have won both the matches and have ensured qualification for the final slated on March 11. Both the Indian teams will meet in the final league encounter on Saturday.

Brief Scores: India under-19 'B' 198 all out in 49.1 overs (Pragnesh Kanpillewar 42, Sameer Rizvi 40, Tilak Varma 33, Prayas Barman 28, Siya Plaatjie 3 for 40) beat South Africa under-19 197 for 9 in 50 overs (Andile Mogakane 64, Ruan Terblanche 73, Sumit Juyal 2 for 18, Karan Lal 2 for 29). MoM: Andile Mogakane. Points: India 'B': 4, SA: 0.

In India 'A'-South Africa match at the Greenfield Stadium, the home team was sent in to bat and posted 252 in 47.4 overs, riding on a strokeful knock of 81 by opener Siddhesh Veer (81) and useful contributions from Priyansh Arya (44) and Shashwat Rawat (45).

For Afghanistan, leg-spinner Shafiqullah Ghafari took four wickets including those of Arya and captain Nehal Wadhera (13).

In reply, the Afghanistan colts were never in the hunt, losing wickets at regular intervals.

Arif Khan Dawlatzai was the top-scorer with 33 (46 balls, 2X4, 1X6) while Gafari followed up his four-wicket haul with a knock of 28 though it consumed 62 balls.

For India 'A', left-arm spinner Yuvraj Choudhary was the best bowler with figures of 3 for 24 from eight overs.

Brief Scores: India under-19 'A' 252 all out in 47.4 overs (Siddhesh Veer 81, Priyansh Arya 44, Shashwat Rawat 45, Dhruv Jurel 28, Shafiqullah Ghafari 4 for 35) beat Afghanistan under-19 160 all out in 48.4 overs (Arif Khan 33, Farhan Zakhil 28, Shafiqullah Ghafari 28, Yuvraj Chaudhary 3 for 24). MoM: Siddhesh Veer. Points: India 'A': 5; Afghanistan: 0.