Man of the match Sarfaraz Khan and Washington Sundar rally India from precarious 55 for 4.
India kick-off campaign with 79-run victory.
Sarfaraz Khan and Washington Sundar hit half-centuries as India scored a 79-run victory over Ireland in their opening ICC Under-19 World Cup Group D match, at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, in Mirpur, on Thursday.
Sarfaraz (74) and Washington (62) shared 110 runs in 17.2 overs to rally India from 55 for 4 to 268 for nine in their stipulated 50 overs after Ireland won the toss and decided to field.
India then dismissed Ireland for 189 in 49.1 overs, despite fifties by Lorcan Tucker (57) and William McClintock (58).
Chasing 269 for victory, Ireland had a disastrous start as their openers, Jack Tector (1) and Stephen Doheny (4), were back in the pavilion within four overs, run-out by Armaan Jaffer and skipper Ishan Kishan respectively.
- Qualifier Nepal shocks New Zealand; Shadab stars for Pak
Sarfaraz said he was not satisfied despite winning the man of the match award.
"I should have scored more because I had settled in well. Hopefully, I will do better in the remaining matches. But it is good to start the tournament with a win," he said.
Captain Kishan was relieved that his side collected maximum points.
"We lost early wickets but runs were done by Sarfaraz and Washington who had an excellent partnership. The fielding effort was great as we inflicted two run-outs at the start and then, the bowlers hit the right areas," the opener said.
"I am not that much happy with the batting as we lost early wickets but this was the first match and I am sure we’ll learn from this match and do better in upcoming matches.
"India has won the event thrice, so the expectation level is pretty high. We have to play professionally and try to live up to the expectations,” he added.
Ireland captain Tector chose to look at the defeat positively.
"We started the game very well with the ball and then also had a few partnerships which bodes well for the future."
First down, Adam Dennison (20) was dismissed in the 15th over when he tried to glide a Rahul Batham (3-15) delivery to third man only to be caught by Ricky Bhui at first slip.
Two overs later, Batham picked 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.
Tucker and McClintock 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 dismissed 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.
Earlier, put in to bat, India suffered a big blow, losing skipper Kishan (0) to the third ball of the innings when he tried to poke at an away-going delivery and was caught by wicketkeeper Lorcan Tucker off Little (3-52).
Rishabh Pant (6) and Ricky Bhui (39) then tried to steady the innings but the former was sent packing in the 12th over when he edged a Anders delivery and was caught behind by Tucker.
Anders (3-35) then returned to dismiss Bhui in his next over. The batsman hit straight to covers and Adam Dennison took an easy catch.
Newman Armaan Jaffer too did not last long; his 15-ball stay was cut short by Gary McClintock (1-35) as India slipped to 55 for four in 16.5 overs.
Sarfaraz and Washington then took the onus on themselves and added 110 runs in 17.2 overs to resurrect India's innings to 165 for five in 34.1 overs.
The former then tried to go for a slog shot and paid the price as he was stumped by Tucker off Harry Tector.
Sarfaraz blasted seven boundaries in his 70-ball innings.
Next batsman Mahipal Lomror (17) too was dismissed cheaply but Washington and Zeeshan Ansari (36) then took India across the 200-mark before the former was removed by Anders, Dennison taking the catch.
Zeeshan's run-a-ball 36, which included two boundaries, took India across the 250-mark.
