LAHORE, Sept 23: Pakistan under-19 cricketers buckled under pressure yet again as Indian juniors carved out a massive 174-run win to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the four-match series at Bagh-e-Jinnah on Saturday.
The Indians, put in to bat by the hosts, mauled Pakistan bowling attack to score 298-9 in the allotted 50 overs. Tanmay Srivastav (88) and Virat Kohli (80) laid the foundations for the winning total with a fine third-wicket stand of 152 after losing both their openers for 47. Srivastav, hit seven boundaries in his 114-ball knock while Kohli cracked nine boundaries to off a 92-ball innings. Kohli departed at the total of 199, caught by captain Riaz Kail off left-arm medium-pacer Raza Rehman. With the addition of 12 more runs Srivastav fell victim to leg-spinner Imad Wasim who had him caught by Raza.
Ravindra Jadeja (29) used the long handle in his cameo as the visitors lost their last four wickets for only 35.
Right-arm medium-pacer Tanvir Afzal captured three wickets for 45 runs in eight overs while Raza finished with two for 58 in 10 overs.
In their turn, Pakistan juniors failed to impress with the bat and were bowled out for a paltry 124 off only 36.5 overs. Indian skipper and leg-spinner Piyush Chawla alongwith off-spinner Sumeet Sharma shared six wickets for 28 and 34 runs respectively to rip through Pakistan batting line-up. Rana Adnan (27) and lastman Muhammad Naved (27) were the only salient performers with the bat for hosts.
The last match will be played at Qadhafi Stadium on Sunday.
Scoreboard
INDIA
Sunny Sohil c Jamal b Tanvir 5
Uday Kaul b Raza 14
Tanmay Srivastav c Raza b Imad 88
Virat Kohli c Riaz b Raza 80
Piyush Chawla lbw b Riaz 7
Ravindra Jadeja c Fazal b Tanvir 29
Sumeet Sharma c Saad b Naved 16
B Suhanth run out 15
Shahbaz Nadeem c Riaz b Tanvir 18
Abu Nachim not out 0
Ishant Sharma not out 1
EXTRAS: (LB-3,W-17,NB-5) 25
TOTAL: (nine wkts, 50 overs) 298
FALL OF WKTS: 1-6, 2-47, 3-199, 4-211, 5-216, 6-262, 7-269, 8-297, 9-297.