Ravi Bishnoi, Atharva Ankolekar star in India's win over NZ

Atharva Ankolekar celebrates a wicket against NZ and Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi with the player-of-the-match award yesterday

Bloemfontein: Left-arm spinner Atharva Ankolekar showed big heart while leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi was all guile in India's 44-run win against New Zealand as they set-up a quarter-final date with Australia in the ICC U-19 World Cup here on Friday. During a rain-hit final Group ‘A' league encounter reduced to 23-overs per-side, India scored 115 for no loss in 23 overs with openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (57 not out off 72 balls) and Divyansh Saxena (52 no off 62 balls) hitting half-centuries.

New Zealand needed 193 as per DLS method calculations but managed only 147 in 21 overs as India emerged group toppers with six points. Left-arm orthodox Ankolekar, who played through pain with a fractured finger on his right hand, had figures of 3-28 in five overs with some accurate wicket-to-wicket bowling. This was after New Zealand No. 3 Fergus Lellman hit him for two sixes off his first two deliveries.

Bishnoi, a R2 crore buy for Kings XI Punjab, is fast turning out to be the biggest star in the junior line-up with his variation and control. He bowled googlies, sliders and top-spinners to end with 4-30 from five overs as vice-captain Dhruv Jurel was fantastic behind the stumps with some neat glovework. India will now meet Australia in the Super League quarter-final at Potchfestroom on January 28.

Bishnoi, who now has 10 wickets from three group league games, said that he tried to bowl wicket to wicket which yielded results. "I want to be like Shane Warne as every aspiring leg-spinner," Bishnoi said after the match.

Brief scores

India 115-0 in 23 overs (Y Jaiswal 57', D Saxena 52') beat New Zealand 147 in 21 overs (R Mariu 42, F Lellman 31; R Bishnoi 4-30, A Ankolekar 3-28) by 44 runs (DLS method)

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