India lose to WI in their U-19 WC opener

India resumed their ICC Under-19 World Cup campaign with a four-wicket loss to West Indies in a Group C encounter at the Tony Ireland Stadium in Townsville on Sunday.

The Indians batted poorly for their 166 for 8, which the Caribbean team got in 47.1 overs. Anthony Alleyne (52), Kyle Mayers (43) and John Campbell (36) shone in an otherwise unconvincing Windies chase. Both openers Kraigg Braithwaite (4) and Sunil Ambris (4) fell to Sandeep Sharma in quick succession to bring India back into the contest.

However, Alleyne and Campbell added 58 runs for the third wicket to bring normalcy. Alleyne led the charge after Campbell's departure and batted with a lot of caution to bring his team within 34 runs of victory.

The Indians displayed a poor bating performance and put a meagre 166 for 8 on the board. The Windies got over the line in the 48th over with four wickets in hand.

By the time Mayers departed in the 44th over with 153 for 6 on the board, victory was all but certain for the Braithwaite-led team. Harmeet Singh was the pick of the bowlers for India with 3 for 35.

Earlier, West Indian quick Jerome Jones took two early wickets as the Indians were reduced to 50 for 4 at one time after being put into bat. Thanks to wicketkeeper Smit Patel’s 51, they managed to get past 150. Ronsford Beaton returned with figures of 3 for 33 to complement Jones' good work at the start.

India's best partnership came for the sixth wicket between Patel and Akshdeep Nath (19). Vijay Zol was another Indian batsman who stood up to the Windies attack with a gritty 26. He and Patel added 41 runs for the fifth wicket.

Brief scores:

West Indies 167 for 6 in 47.1 overs (Alleyne 52; Harmeet 3 for 35) beat India 166 for 8 (Patel 51; Beaton 3 for 33) by four wickets

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