Indian bowlers restrict SA to 244/7 in U19 World Cup semifinals
Benoni (South Africa), Feb 6: Indian bowlers limited South Africa to 244 for seven with a well-oiled performance on a pitch that offered them considerable assistance in the ICC Under-19 World Cup semifinals here on Tuesday.
South Africa found fight through wicketkeeper batter Lhuan-dre Pretorious (76, 102 balls) and Richard Seletswane (64 100 balls), but those efforts were not enough to rattle the five-time and defending champions.
After losing Steve Stolk and David Teeger inside the first 10 overs, South Africa consolidated with Pretorious and Seletswane milking 72 runs for the third wicket. But they took nearly 22 overs for that.
The South African top-order just could not get going against India pacers Naman Tiwari (1/52) and Raj Limbani (3/60) who found appreciable pace, bounce and carry from the Willowmoore track to trouble them.
Even when Seletswane and Pretorious were reconstructing the SA innings, they failed to score at a brisk pace, as the run-rate for a large part remained under four.
Left-arm spinners Saumy Pandey (1/38) and Musheer Khan (2/43) along with off-spinner Priyanshu Moliya shackled the host batters' progress in this phase, bowling a tidy line and length.
Pretorious, who tried to bring in some momentum hammering Moliya for a six over the mid-wicket, departed just as the alliance began to blossom.
Pretorious, who made his third successive fifty in this event, wanted to cart Musheer over mid-wicket but a leaping Murugan Abhishek held on to a stunner to end his stay.
However, Seletswane carried on with lot of determination and completed his fifty in 90 balls with a single off left-arm seamer Tiwari.
But Seletswane also could not build on the platform as he soon fell to Tiwari, as his hoick ended in the hands of a running-in Moliya in the deep.
Juan James (24 off 19 balls) and Tristan Luus (23 off 12 balls) helped South Africa amass 81 runs off the last 10 overs but they might find that middle-over lethargy tough to overcome.
However, South Africa, the 2014 champions, can take a modicum of consolation from the fact that they are the first side to score more than 200 against this Indian attack.
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Man held for murdering elder brother in Latur
Latur (PTI): A man was arrested in Latur for allegedly murdering his elder brother, a police official said on Sunday.
The body of Gulab Vilas Kharose (34) was found on the bund of a field in Nilanga tehsil on February 18, following which a murder case was registered as it bore strangulation marks, the Kasarsirsi police station official said.
The probe zeroed in on the victim's younger brother Ulhas Kharose (32), he added.
"The two brothers had frequent quarrels over land and family matters. Ulhas attacked and killed his elder brother on the evening of February 17. Ulhas has been remanded in police custody till February 24," the official said.
