Watch: India rode on Uday Saharan, Sachin Dhas’ hundreds and Saumy Pandey’s four-for to enter the U19 World Cup 2024 semi-finals with a 132-run win against Nepal.

After electing to bat first, India lost their first wicket for just 26 runs as Nepal pacer Gulshan Jha strangled opener Adarsh Singh down the leg side for 21. No.3 batter Priyanshu Moliya (19 off 36) was the batter to fall next in the 14th over in a horrible running mixup with his partner Arshin Kulkarni. Worse, Kulkarni nicked off the very next ball off pacer Aakash Chand to be out caught behind for a 30-ball 18. India were in a spot of bother, losing their top three for 62 runs at the end of 14 overs.

Captain Saharan and Dhas got together in a period of consolidation before the latter struck three stylish boundaries off Chand in the 20th over. Dhas, being the aggressor, scored a 101-ball 116, comprising 11 boundaries and three sixes, in his 215-run stand with Saharan, who also slammed a 107-ball 100. India finished on 297-5 courtesy of their mammoth partnership.

While defending the total, Raj Limbani drew the first blood for India, scalping opener Deepak Bohara for 22. Following the dismissal, Saumy Pandey ripped apart Nepal’s batting order with his cunning left-arm spin, picking up 4-29 off his 10 overs. By the time he picked up opponent skipper Dev Khanal (33 off 53) in the 39th over, the game was virtually out of Nepal’s hands as they were teetering at 165-9. Chand, unbeaten on 18 and Durgesh Gupta (29) played out the rest of the overs as India sealed the match by 132 runs to seal a semi-final spot. Dhas was named Player of the Match for his scintillating knock.

Innings break!

Centuries from Sachin Dhas & Captain Uday Saharan power #TeamIndia to 297/5 👏👏

Stay tuned for the second innings ⏳

Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/6Vp3LnoN6N#BoysInBlue | #INDvNEP pic.twitter.com/bkOR245hwD

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 2, 2024

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