U-19 Asia Cup: Seamer Raj takes 7/13 as India beat Nepal to enter semis
Dubai, December 12
Seam bowler Raj Limbani bowled an incisive spell to record the brilliant figures of 7/13 as India cruised to a 10-wicket victory over Nepal to clinch a semi-final berth in the U-19 Asia Cup cricket tournament here on Tuesday.
After shooting out Nepal for just 52 runs in 22.1 overs, courtesy Limbani’s superb performance, all-rounder Arshin Kulkarni (43 not out), kept the IPL scouts interested with five huge sixes to knock off the runs in just 7.1 overs.
Having lost to arch-rivals Pakistan by eight wickets in an earlier game, India colts, led by Uday Saharan, needed to win their final league game to qualify for the knock-out stage and they absolutely dominated the proceedings against the boys from Himalayan nation.
Nepal were already out of contention after losing both their group league game but their worst was saved for the last with none of their players getting into double digits.
Limbani, the lanky 18-year-old right-armer from Baroda, who primarily bowls inswingers at mid 120s, didn’t let any of the Nepalese batters settle down and pitched it up, getting sufficient movement.
However Limbani’s 7/13 isn’t the best effort by an Indian bowler in U-19 internationals as former pacer Irfan Pathan had astounding figures of 9/16 against Bangladesh in the Junior Asia Cup in Lahore, back in 2004.
The top scorer for Nepal was Hemant Dhami (8), whose two boundaries got the team past 50-run mark.
The chase was never a problem and opener Arshin tonked the Nepal bowlers for fun and also sent a message to the IPL recruiters that he is one of the newcomers on whom everyone should keep a close eye.
Arshin has already scored 70 not out and took three wickets in the opening game against Afghanistan but didn’t make much of a mark against Pakistan.
On the day, he was in a mood to entertain his dug-out while making mockery of a small target after getting a wicket with his bowling.
Brief Scores: Nepal U-19 52 in 22.1 overs (Raj Limbani 7/13). India 52/0 in 7.1 overs (Arshin Kulkarni 43 not out).
