India registered the third consecutive win and registered their place in the quarter-final of the ICC Under-19 World Cup 2018 without losing a match. India thrashed Zimbabwe by 10 wickets on Friday in their final group-stage match.

After winning the toss, Zimbabwe decided to bat first at the Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui. However, they were bundled for 154, a total India chased down in 21.2 overs without losing any wicket. Anukul Roy once weaved his magic and scalped 4 wickets while Shubman Gill and Harvik Desai took care of the batting.

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Chasing the below-par total, India brought in changes in the batting line-up. Regular openers captain Prithvi Shaw and Manjot Kalra allowed Gill and Desai to open the innings. This provided India a chance to test their batting strength. Gill and Desai were off to a slow start as they needed to spend more time at the crease and understand the nature of the pitch.

Zimbabwe skipper Liam Roche, an off-spinner, opened bowling himself, but the Indian batsmen were not bothered. Once set, Gill and Desai took off and destroyed all the  Zimbabwe’s plans (if any). The Indian batsmen were comfortable playing plenty of well-timed, dazzling shots throughout their innings. Gill’s timing and clean hitting impressed one and all. He did not get a chance to bat against Papua New Guinea but scored his consecutive half-century, the previous one being against Australia. Desai, too, notched up a half-century.

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None of the Zimbabwe bowlers managed to produce a chance to take a wicket. The Indian openers batted mercilessly and without taking any unnecessary risk and took the team to the victory with 28.2 overs in hand.

Earlier, Indian bowlers had run through Zimbabwe’s batting to bundle them for 154, their highest team score in this edition of the tournament. Milton Shubha was the top-scorer by scoring 36. Shivam Mavi struck early while Roy ran through the middle- and lower-middle orders.

Brief scores:

Zimbabwe U-19: 154 in 48.1 overs (W Madhevere 30, M Shumba 36,S Mavi 1/30, A Singh 2/10, A Sharma 2/22) defeated by India U-19: 155 for no loss in 21.4 overs (S Gill 90*, H Desai 56* ; L Roche 0/27) with 170 balls to spare.

Player of the Match: Shubman Gill.