U19 WC: India crushes Uganda to enter quarter-finals

Trinidad: The furious young men in blue slammed weak Uganda grabbing a massive win of 326 runs, reaching the top in the group and entering quarters of the Under-19 World Cup tournament on Saturday.

Raj Bawa's fiery 162 off 108 balls and Angkrish Raghuvanshi's 144 off 120 balls built the Indian total 405/5, the highest total in this edition and India's second-best total in the history of U19-WC. Uganda's chase ended in 79 at 19.6 overs. The victory was India's largest in the history of the tournament.

Raghuvanshi joined Bawa in the third wicket and added 206 runs together. Raghuvanshi hit 22 boundaries and four sixes, while Bawa hit 14 boundaries and eight sixes. Even after Raghuvanshi left, Bawa continued his onslaught, hitting bowlers all around the ground.

Pascal Murungi, the Ugandan skipper, took three Indian wickets serving 72 runs.

Uganda started the chase with a Herculean task in hand, and they slipped even from the start. Uganda lost batters on by one who scored 0 or single digits until captain Murungi came and scored 34 off 45 with seven boundaries. But it wasn't enough.

India's best total in the tournament history was 423/3 against Scotland in 2004, while Australia's 480/6 against Kenya in 2002 is the highest total ever in the UJ19-WC. Bawa's 162 is the highest individual score by an Indian in the tournament.

The four-time champion, India, won the league stage, winning all three games. It had beaten U19 South Africa for 45 runs and U19 Ireland for 174 runs. It will face U19 Bangladesh in the quarter-finals on January 29.

Scores: India U19 405 for 5 in 50 overs (Raj Bawa 162 not out, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 144; Pascal Murungi 3/72). Uganda U19 79 in 19.4 overs (Pascal Murungi 34; Nishant Sindhu 4/19, Rajvardhan Hangargekar 2/8)