New-ball bowler Pradeep Sangwan made excellent use of conditions to rock the South African Under-19 top order with quality left-arm seam bowling and they never really recovered, instead stumbling to 149 in just 30.1 overs at the Kinrara Oval. Wayne Parnell, South Africa's captain, thought the track looked good to bat on despite a couple cracks and his decision came a cropper as Sangwan seamed out five wickets inside the second Powerplay. A bit of urgency from Johnathan Vandiar stemmed the rot momentarily with a gutsy 53 but India now have a great shot at moving to the quarter-finals.
Sangwan's idol is Wasim Akram and the left-arm medium-pacer from Delhi sure took a leaf out of the Pakistan legend's book. An impressively straight wrist position allowed Sangwan to land the new ball on an upright seam and that proved too good for South Africa. Swinging his second delivery back off a good length, Sangwan trapped Pieter Malan plumb in front for his second duck in a row. Sangwan proceeded to take care of the other opener, JJ Smuts, with a lovely cutter that nipped past his tame forward defensive.
Reeza Hendricks hooked a rare loose ball over fine leg for six but fell soon after, poking at a fuller delivery and edging to the wicketkeeper to make it 22 for 3. That quickly became 29 for 4 thanks to Sangwan's seam and an injudicious shot. Rilee Roussow took the side to the finish line against West Indies yesterday but failed to register against India. Looking to force the pace, he drove hard at a wide delivery and was well held by Ravindra Jadeja at first slip, diving to his left.
Sangwan was quickly given a 7-2 off-side field but didn't need it. Adjusting his line closer to off stump he bent the ball back and snuck it through Yaseen Vallie's expansive drive. Off stump was indeed pegged back and South Africa were in a complete mess at 45 for 5. Sangwan continues to make strides in his first season of full-time cricket.
India made one change, swapping seamer Siddarth Kaul for the delightfully-named Napoleon Einstein, an offspinning-allrounder. Coming on after 15 overs he was welcomed into the tournament with a towering six over long-on by Vandiar. Second ball, he gave the ball a mighty rip and as the ball spun very wide of the stumps replays indicated a faint edge as Vandiar chased it. No one appealed, and the batsman had a life early into his innings.
Another offspinner, Tanmay Srivastava, formed the second half of a double change and the shots continued to flow from South Africa's middle order. Vandiar showed the way, thrashing away at anything marginally off-length and Parnell followed with chips over the infield. India's captain Virat Kohli stacked the offside but the batsmen continued to milk runs, making room and going over the fielders. The 50-run stand consumed just 33 deliveries.
The aggression couldn't be sustained for long and Parnell fell for 31, sweeping and missing Jadeja's left-arm spin in the 20th over. Jacobus Pienaar yorked himself first ball but Roy Adams dug out the hat-trick ball. Vandiar took the attack back to India and brought up his fifty from 38 balls, with seven fours and a six, but was smartly stumped for 53. The last wicket fell to the first ball of the 31st over and the Indians walked off with smiles on their faces.
Ray Jennings, South Africa's coach, talked a lot about how his side was playing two games in two days and the effects appeared evident on a hot, muggy day.
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