Trinidad: Stand-in skipper Nishant Sandhu was happy with the performances of his teammates in the 174-win over Ireland despite missing six players, including main captain Yash Dhull, due to COVID-19 cases in the camp. With the win over Ireland at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, India have now progressed to the quarter-final stage.
“I’m really happy with the win. It was great to see everyone sticking to their roles and plans. We had to focus early, had to keep those things (COVID-19 cases in the camp) out of the mind and the boys responded well. Support staff are doing a great job in backing us and giving us all that we need to perform,” said Sandhu after the match.
Ireland captain Tim Tector gave full credit to India for winning by a big margin. Batting first, India made a huge 307/5 in 50 overs, thanks to fifties from openers Harnoor Singh (88) and Angkrish Raghuvanshi (79) and a blazing cameo from Rajvardhan Hangargekar (39 not out off just 17 balls).
With the ball, India were good enough to skittle out Ireland for 133 in 39 overs. “Have to give credit to India. They came out with the bat and put pressure on us straightaway. We didn’t bowl particularly well although we did pull things back well later on,” said Tector after the match.
“We were happy to restrict them to 307, because it was a good surface. Was always going to be a challenge for us. Losing early wickets put us on the back foot. Maybe we could have been more proactive. But again, got to give credit to India, they hardly gave us loose balls,” added Tector.
India next face Uganda on January 22, where a win would see them seal the top spot in Group B while Ireland will face South Africa on Friday.
Three-time champions Australia bounced back from their defeat to Sri Lanka by registering a seven-wicket win over an impressive Scotland at the Conaree Sports Club.
The win, set up by an unbeaten 101 from opener Teague Wyllie, keeps Australia’s hopes of making the quarter-final stage alive with a successful chase of 240.
Put in to bat first, Charlie Tear and Oliver Davidson took their team beyond 80 before Davidson (33) was run-out by William Salzmann. Wicketkeeper Tear, hit nine boundaries on the way to 54 off 69 balls before falling to an Issac Higgins delivery just three overs after his fellow opener departed. Scotland ended on a respectable 236 for eight, especially after their batting didn’t show up in the first two matches.
In reply, Wyllie and Campbell Kellaway brought out their attacking mode in the power play. The pair stitched a partnership of 101, before Kellaway (47) departed just three shy of a half-century, falling lbw to Oliver Davidson.
Kellaway’s fall couldn’t stop an impressive Australia chase, with one-drop Aidan Cahill smashing 72 from 45 balls, laced with seven fours and four sixes. Wyllie (101 not out) reached his century to help complete the chasing job as Australia reached their target in 39.5 overs with seven wickets remaining.
Despite a third straight loss in the tournament, Scotland will enter the Plate stage quarter-finals with their confidence boosted after producing their best all-round performance in their final Group D game.
Australia, on the other hand, are second in Group D with four points, while hosts West Indies, placed third in the group, have two points less but have a superior Net Run Rate and a match to go on Friday against Sri Lanka.
Brief scores:
India beat Ireland by 174 runs. India 307/5 in 50 overs (Harnoor Singh 88, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 79, Muzamil Sherzad 3/79) Ireland 133 in 39 overs (Scott MacBeth 32, Joshua Cox 28; Aneeshwar Gautam 2/11, Garv Sangwan 2/23).
Australia beat Scotland by seven wickets. Scotland 237/8 in 50 overs (Charlie Tear 54, Tomas Mackintosh 54; William Salzmann 2/38, Aidan Cahill 2/33) lost to Australia 240/3 in 39.5 overs (Teague Wyllie 101 not out, Aidan Cahill 72; Oliver Davidson 2/45, Charlie Peet 1/34).
