Bulawayo (Zimbabwe)15 January. Medium pacer Henil Patel’s brilliant bowling (5-16) helped India as the five-time champions defeated USA by six wickets using the Duckworth-Lewis (D/L) method in 118 balls in their first group match of the rain-affected ICC Under-19 World Cup here on Thursday.
India began their #U19WorldCup campaign with a win over USA #USAvIND
: : pic.twitter.com/zKoNdwSB16
— ICC (@ICC) January 15, 2026
: : American team disintegrated for 107 runs
Forced to bat first in the Group B match at the Queen’s Sports Club Ground in cloudy weather, the American team collapsed for just 107 runs in 35.2 overs in front of the brilliant bowling of ‘Player of the Match’ Heinil and his colleagues. Against the revised target of 96 runs in 37 overs due to rain interruption, Ayush Mhatre’s team scored 99 runs for four wickets in 17.2 overs. When the rain came, the Indian team had scored 21 runs for one wicket in four overs. After this, Abhigyan Kundu (42 not out, 41 balls, one six, five fours) took the team to the target.
For his fantastic 5⃣-wicket haul, Henil Patel is the Player of the Match
India U19 kickstart their campaign with a 6⃣-wicket victory (DLS Method)
score card
#U19WorldCup pic.twitter.com/oydCFOsF4i
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 15, 2026
Vaibhav Suryavanshi could not play in the first match
In the Indian innings which started late due to rain, 14-year-old explosive opener Vaibhav Suryavanshi (two runs) was out cheaply. He was bowled by Ritwik Appidi (2-24) in the third over. Captain Ayush Mhatre was looking confident after hitting two fours, but then rain added another hurdle. At this time India needed only 87 runs in 46 overs.
Abhigyan and Kanishka took India to the target
But when the game started again after a long pause, the equation changed according to the Duckworth-Lewis method. When the game started, India lost the wickets of Mhatre (19 runs, 19 balls, four fours) and Vedant Trivedi (two runs) in quick succession. Then vice-captain Vihaan Malhotra (18 runs, 17 balls, two fours) also went out (4-70). But Kundu and Kanishk Chauhan (10 not out) ensured victory with an unbroken 29-run partnership.
score card
Before this, Heinil and his fellow bowlers took wickets continuously in the American innings. The team’s top scorer, which lost six wickets at 39 in 16 overs, was Nitish Sudini (36 runs, 52 balls, four fours). Apart from them, Adneet Jham (18), Sahil Garg (16) and Arjun Mahesh (16) reached double figures. Apart from Henil, Deepesh Devendran, RS Ambareesh, Khilan Patel and Vaibhav Suryavanshi achieved one success each.
India will now play Bangladesh on 17 January
Apart from America, there are also teams from Bangladesh and New Zealand in India’s group. India’s next match is to be played against Bangladesh on January 17 in the same stadium.
Comments are closed.