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Lincoln: 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 World Cup on Friday.
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.
Later, spin twins Manan Sharma and Gaurav Jathar ripped through the lower half of the Afghan line-up.
The chase was hardly a challenge for India, though the team did lose an early wicket in Mayank Agarwal (10).
But Rahul Kannaur (35), Mandeep Singh (51 not out) and Maneria (15 not out) ensured that there were no further hiccups. Mandeep completed the formalities with a massive six which also brought up his half century.
Friday's win gave India two points and they will next play Hong Kong on Sunday in Christchurch.
India had earlier won the tournament in 2000 and were runners up to Pakistan in the 2006 edition.
Result: India U-19 won by 8 wickets
Afghanistan Under-19 (50 Overs Maximum)
Javed Ahmadi run out (Jathar) 19 (41) 2 '4s' 1 '6s'
Zakiullah Zaki c Mandeep Singh b Sandeep Sharma 1 (9)
Shir Shirzai c Harpreet Singh b Netravalkar 4 (17)
Noor-ul-Haq (C) c Jathar b Manan Sharma 61 (119) 4 '4s' 1 '6s'
Hashmatullah Shaidi c Harpreet Singh b Netravalkar 0 (3)
Murad Ali (WK) c Shaikh b Unadkat 2 (13)
Afsar Khan st Shaikh b Jathar 12 (60) 1 '4s'
Ayan Aminzai c Sandeep Sharma b Manan Sharma 6 (19)
Aftab Alam c Shaikh b Jathar 0 (1)
Izatullah Dawlatzai c Menaria b Unadkat 4 (12)
Yamin Ahmadzai not out 3 (2)
Extras: 6 (Leg Byes 2, Wides 4)
Total: 118 all out (49.2 Overs)
Fall of Wickets: 1-12 (Zakiullah Zaki, 6.1 ov), 2-22 (Javed Ahmadi, 8.3 ov), 3-31 (Shir Shirzai, 15.1 ov), 4-31 (Hashmatullah Shaidi, 15.4 ov), 5-38 (Murad Ali, 21.3 ov), 6-82 (Afsar Khan, 37.5 ov), 7-97 (Ayan Aminzai, 44.4 ov), 8-99 (Aftab Alam, 45.3 ov), 9-113 (Noor-ul-Haq, 48.1 ov), 10-118 (Izatullah Dawlatzai, 49.2 ov)
India U19 Bowling
Sandeep Sharma 10-4-13-1 (1w)
Saurabh Netravalkar 10-4-23-2
Harpreet Singh 9-0-17-0 (1w)
Jaidev Unadkat 6.2-1-17-2 (2w)
Gaurav Jathar 10-2-28-2
Manan Sharma 4-0-18-2
India Under-19 (Target: 119 runs from 50 Overs)
Rahul Kannaur c Javed Ahmadi b Shir Shirzai 35 (51) 4 '4s' 1 '6s'
Mayank Agarwal c Zakiullah Zaki b Aftab Alam 10 (16) 2 '4s'
Mandeep Singh not out 51 (63) 4 '4s' 3 '6s'
Ashok Menaria (C) not out 15 (23) 3 '4s'
Extras: 11 (Leg Byes 3, Wides 7, No Balls 1)
Total: 122/2 (25.2 Overs)
Fall of Wickets: 1-22 (Agarwal, 4.6 ov), 2-80 (Kannaur, 17.5 ov)
Afghanistan U19 Bowling
Aftab Alam 7-0-24-1 (1w)
Yamin Ahmadzai 6-0-27-0 (3w)
Shir Shirzai 4-0-29-1
Izatullah Dawlatzai 5-0-21-0 (3w)
Zakiullah Zaki 0.4-0-7-0 (1nb)
Ayan Aminzai 1.4-0-11-0
Javed Ahmadi 1-0-1-0
