Defending champions India continued their rampaging form and hammered Hong Kong by nine wickets in their rain-truncated second Group A match of the ICC Under-19 cricket World Cup here today.
Opting to bowl in the 34-overs-a-side match, India first skittled out Hong Kong for 143 before getting to the target with 10 overs to spare.
Indian openers Mayank Agarwal (63) and Rahul Kannaur (62 not out) hit twin half-centuries to fashion their second successive win.
Man of the match pacer Sandeep Sharma ripped through Hong Kong’s top order with his miserly seven overs during which he scalped three wickets for just 11 runs.
Poor running between the wickets also proved to be Hong Kong’s bane as they lost three of their batsmen to run-outs.
Hong Kong started disastrously after India captain Ashok Menaria had put them in, losing opener Alex Smith who had not even faced a single delivery when he was run out by Mandeep Singh.
Wickets continued to tumble thereafter and Hong Kong were reeling at 19 for four by the ninth over of the match.
Sandeep used the overhead conditions effectively, getting a number of deliveries to fizz past the outside edge of the rival bats.
Hong Kong made a brief comeback with a strong fifth wicket partnership of 54 between 15-year-old Mark Chapman (27) and Jamie Atkinson, who produced a stoic captain’s knock of 39.
A 12-ball 23 came from Aizaz Khan towards the end of the innings but 143 was never going to be enough against the defending champions.
For India, openers Mayank Agarwal (63) and Rahul Kannaur (62 not out) went about the task in stylish fashion, posting their 50 in just 30 minutes with some exquisite hits to the boundary.
The partnership ended in the 19th over with the score on 119, when Irfan Ahmed had Mayank caught at gully with a bouncer that took the Indian by surprise.
But that was the only success for Hong Kong as India romped rather easily.
The unbeaten Indians will next play England in Lincoln on January 21.
