Vihaan Malhotra's unbeaten ton helps India U19 set 353-run target for Zimbabwe

Vihaan Malhotra made an unbeaten 109 off 107 balls with the help of seven boundaries. Abhigyan Kundu and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi also scored crucial half-centuries, which helped India get to a big total.

Earlier, Zimbabwe won the toss and chose to field first. Left-arm seamer Panashe Mazai opened the bowling for the co-hosts as Aaron George came to open the batting for India with the young sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

Indian openers collected 15 runs from the second over, with George hitting a boundary and Sooryavanshi hitting a six and a four. In the next over, the duo added 14 runs with George hitting two boundaries.

Panashe dismissed George on the first delivery of the fifth over. Captain Ayush Mhatre replaced him at the crease, and Sooryavanshi finished the over with a mammoth six taking India's score past 50 runs inside five overs.

Mhatre opened his arms in the next over, hitting a six over square leg region. Sooryavanshi hit three boundaries including two sixes in the next over to collect 18 runs from the 7th over.

Mhatre targeted Webster Madhidhi and hit a couple of boundaries in the eighth over. In the next over, Sooryavanshi took a single after hitting a four and completed his second half-century of the tournament. He reached the milestone in just 24 balls, which was the joint-second fastest 50 of the tournament. He joined his skipper Mhatre, with this milestone.

Tatenda Chimugoro came to bowl the 11th over and with a single on the first delivery, India reached the 100-run mark. Chimugoro got Mhatre caught behind on the third delivery. He made 21 runs off 19 balls with the help of three boundaries.

Vedant Trivedi replaced his skipper at the crease and got off the mark with a single. Sooryavanshi also lost his wicket on the fifth delivery of the over. He departed after making 52 off 30 balls. He hit four fours and as many sixes.

Vihaan Malhotra came to bat at number five and got his first boundary in the 15th over.

Chimugoro got another wicket in the 17th over when Vedant Trivedi gave a simple catch to the wicket-keeper. Abhigyan Kundu replaced him at the crease and came to bat at number six.

India reached the 150-run mark in the 21st over and raced to 200 in the next four overs.

The duo of Kundu and Malhotra added 113 runs for the fifth wicket. Kundu hit his first boundary in the 25th over when he cracked a six on Michael Blignaut's delivery.

Both batters kept rotating the strike and Kundu completed his fifty with consecutive boundaries in the 31st over. Malhotra joined him with a cracking shot on the first delivery of the next over.

Kundu holed out to extra cover in the 36th over while trying to play an inside-out shot over the covers. He made 61 runs off 62 balls.

Kanish Chouhan replaced him at the crease but couldn't stay for long as he lost his wicket to the Zimbabwe skipper Simbarashe Mudzengerere. India crossed the 250-run mark in the 38th over. RS Ambrish came to bat after that and added 52 runs for the seventh wicket with Malhotra.

Ambrish lost his wicket in the 47th over. Khilan Patel joined Malhotra and started hitting boundaries. Patel hit a six in the 49th over and Malhotra completed his century with a boundary. The duo collected 19th runs from the over.

Patel hit consecutive sizes in the final over and holed out while trying to do the same on the next delivery. He made a quick 12-ball-30 with the help of four boundaries. Malhotra remained unbeaten on 109 runs.

Now, Zimbabwe U19 need 353 runs to win the match. Khilan Patel and RS Ambrish have taken one wicket each as Zimbabwe U19 are 18/2 after six overs at the time of writing this report.

Brief Score: India U19 352/8 in 50 overs (Vihaan Malhotra 109*, Abhigyan Kundu 61; Tatenda Chimugoro 49/3) (ANI)