Skipper Vijay Zol continued his fine form as his century helped India Colts thrash New Zealand Colts by a whopping margin of 165 runs to register their third victory in an U-19 tri-series match here on Thursday.
The left-hander and senior-most player in the side, Zol smashed 128 off 131 balls to power India to 276/6 in 50 overs and then bowlers produced a fine effort to skittle out New Zealand for 111 in 42 overs.
The victory has all but sealed India’s place in the final of the tournament.
After an early dismissal of opener Ankush Bains (5), Zol in the company of Mumbai youngster Akhil Herwadkar (55, 73 balls, 6x4) added 105 runs for the second wicket to steady the innings. During his knock, the stylish Maharashtra left-hander Zol hit 16 boundaries and a big six. Medium pacer Kyle Jamieson (0/51 in 6 overs) got some harsh treatment from the two Indian batsmen.
After Herwadkar’s dismissal, Sanju Samson (11) and Mohammed Saif (17) didn’t last long as India were in a spot of bother at 171/4 but Zol found an able ally in Sarfaraz Khan who hit a quickfire 29-ball-30.
More importantly, he was involved in a 94-run stand for the fifth wicket with his skipper which took India past 250-run mark.
With the pitch at the Marrara Cricket Ground assisting seamers, India’s quartet of left-arm seamers Chama Milind (2/16), Kuldeep Yadav (3/22) along with right-arm medium fast bowlers Abhimanyu Lamba (2/21) and Atul Singh (1/14) ran through the Kiwis top-order.
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Kohli fined for slow over-rate against Lanka
Port of Spain, July 4: India’s stand-in captain Virat Kohli has been fined 20 per cent of his match fees and his team-mates 10 per cent for maintaining a slow over rate in their tri-nation ODI series match against Sri Lanka.
India were handed an embarrassing 161-run defeat by the Sri Lankans in the match that took place at the Sabina Place on Tuesday.
“In accordance with the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, and in particular the regulations contained therein governing minor over-rate offences, players are fined 10 per cent of their match fees for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time, with the captain fined double that amount,” the ICC said in a statement.
“As such, Kohli was fined 20 per cent of his match fee,” it added. — PTI