Under-19 World Cup 2026: India make light work of USA in opener

The Under-19 World Cup 2026 got underway with India locking horns with USA in Match 1 at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo on Thursday, January 15. Indian captain Ayush Mhatre won the toss and elected to bowl first.

USA did not have the best of starts as right-hander Amrinder Gill was sent back to the pavilion for a solitary run by Henil Patel in the second over. Wicketkeeper-batter Arjun Mahesh joined Sahil Garg as the pair looked determined to see off the new ball threat. The Indian bowlers stuck to tight lines and lengths and the disciplined showing paid off soon. Garg, in his quest to up the scoring rate, succumbed to RS Ambrish for 16(28).

Before USA could recover, Henil struck again in the 12th over. The right-arm fast bowler sent back the American captain Utkarsh Srivastava (0 off 5) and Mahesh (16 off 29) in the same over, leaving USA at 35/4. Amogh Arepally and Adnit Jhamb combined to take their team out of trouble. The Indians dried up the scoring as the next four overs yielded just four runs for USA.

The Indians were right on top and left-arm spinner Khilan Patel provided another breakthrough, sending back Arepally for 3(13). Nitish Sudini joined Jhamb and the duo formed a crucial partnership. But, just when USA were looking stable the bowling team struck again to dismiss Jhamb for 18(41).

A misunderstanding in the middle between Sudini (36 off 52) and new man Adit Kappa (5 off 19) brought an end to their short partnership as USA found themselves at 80/7 in the 30th over. The lower order could not do much as Henil Patel went through it. The Valsad-born completed his five-wicket haul as the Americans were bowled out for 107.

The Indian response had to wait as rain delayed the start of the innings for a while. When play resumed Mhatre, who was facing the first ball, was dropped by Amrinder Gill. The Indian captain added insult to injury as he stroked two fours in the next over. But, on the other hand, young prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi failed to fire as the 14-year-old was cleaned up by Ritvik Appidi for 2(4).

New man Vedant Trivedi joined Mhatre and soon after play stopped again due to lightning warnings and bad light. A substantial amount of time was lost and so the target for India was revised to 96 runs off 37 overs.

Trivedi could not give Mhatre company for long as the right-hander was scalped by Appidi as well for 2(10). Mhatre (19 off 19), too, did not last long after as India suffered the third blow with 25 runs on the board. Vihaan Malhotra and wicketkeeper-batter Abhigyan Kundu came together and prevented immediate further damage. The duo formed a 45-run partnership off 43 balls to calm the nerves before the former's innings was cut short by Srivastava for 18(17).

Kanishk Chouhan and Kundu ensured India did not suffer any more losses and took the team over the line in the 18th over with six wickets in hand. For USA, Appidi was the best bowler with figures of 5-1-24-2. Henil, for his 5/24, was adjudged as the Player of the Match.