Published: February 1, 2026 at 10:11 pm
India colts put up a strong show against arch-rivals Pakistan and scored a comfortable 58-run victory in the Super Six stage to book their place in the semifinals of the ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2026.
The victory puts India, the five-time winners, level on eight points with England in Group 2, with both sides progressing to the last four.
Having been put into bat at Bulawayo’s Queens Sports Club on Sunday, India posted 252 thanks to Vedant Trivedi’s watchful 68 from 98 balls and a series of lower-order contributions.
In response, Pakistan’s Usman Khan marshalled his side’s chase with a well-made 66, but India skipper Ayush Mhatre proved decisive with the ball, claiming three for 21 to turn the tide in India’s favour, before Khilan A Patel mopped up the tail with a three for 35 haul.
Vedant shines with bat, Mhatre and Patel star with ball
India’s innings got off to a solid start as openers Aaron George (16) and Vaibhav Suryavanshi (30) putting on 47 for the first wicket.
But India lost three wickets off four balls to be precariously place. The combination of Mohammad Sayyam (2/69) and Abdul Subhan (3/33) saw India’s top order toppled but Vedant Trivedi and Vihaan Malhotra steadied the ship with a partnership of 62. The runs came off 94 balls with Vihaan scoring 21 of those in 43 balls and Vedant making a 51-ball 34.
After Vihaan’s departure, Vedant continued to play the anchor role and was part of two further helpful partnerships of 48 and 35 with Abhigyan Kundu (16) and R S Ambrish (29) respectively.
Vedant’s innings eventually ended for 68, caught by Farhan Yousaf off Momin Qamar’s bowling, with India 182 for six with just under 10 overs remaining.
Kanishk Chouhan and Patel both made important lower-order contributions as India made it past the 250-run mark with the former adding 35 from 29 balls while the latter hitting a 15-ball 21.
But there would be no last over pyrotechnics as the return of Abdul saw him pick up two further wickets before being involved in an innings-ending run-out.
After the early wicket of Sameer Minhas (9), Pakistan moved themselves into a strong position at 151 for two thanks to the efforts of opener Hamza Zahoor (42) and Usman Khan before captain Farhan Yousaf added 38.
However, the skipper’s dismissal triggered a collapse with Pakistan losing eight wickets for just 43 runs thereafter. Mhatre removed Usman to see the back of the last of Pakistan’s set batters before he and Patel took a series of cheap wickets as India claimed victory.
Brief scores: India 252 in 49.5 overs (Vedant Trivedi 68, Kanishk Chouhan 35; Abdul Subhan 3/33, Mohammad Sayyam 2/69) beat Pakistan 194 in 46.2 overs (Usman Khan 66, Hamza Zahoor 42; Ayush Mhatre 3/21, Khilan A Patel 3/35).
