Sarfaraz Khan and Washington Sundar blasted half-centuries as India notched up a comprehensive 79-run win over Ireland in its opening match at the ICC Under-19 World Cup on Thursday.
Sarfaraz (74) and Washington (62) shared 110 runs in 17.2 overs to pull India from 55 for 4 and post a competitive 268 for nine in their 50 overs after Ireland won the toss and decided to field.
India then returned to dismiss Ireland for 189 in 49.1 overs, despite fifties by Lorcan Tucker (57) and William McClintock (58) in the Group D match played at the Shere Bangla National Stadium.
Chasing 269 to win, Ireland had a disastrous start as both their openers Jack Tector (1) and Stephen Doheny (4) were sent back to the pavillion within four overs after being run-out by Armaan Jaffer and skipper Ishan Kishan, respectively.
First down, Adam Dennison (20) too was dismissed in the 15th over when he tried to glide a Rahul Batham (3/15) delivery to the third man only to be caught by Ricky Bhui at first slip.
Two overs later, Batham picked up his second wicket when he had Gary McClintock caught at first slip by Bhui as Ireland slumped to 46 for four in 16.2 overs.
Lorcan Tucker (57) and William McClintock (58) then shared a crucial 113 run partnership for the fifth wicket to help Ireland recover to 159 for five. However, Zeeshan Ansari got rid of McClintock with wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant knocking the bails off after he tried to go for a big shot.
Harry Tector (3) was removed by Avesh Khan in the 45th over as Ireland slipped to 165 for six.
With pressure mounting, Rory Anders (6), Joshua Little (0), Tom Stanton (4) went for big shots and perished in the process. Tucker was the last man to be dismissed.