Madhya Pradesh pacer has first-ball wicket before reducing Bangladesh to 23-4 in 6.2 overs in a rattling spell of 6-3-4-4
Pacer Avesh Khan bagged four wickets as India scored an emphatic 82-run victory over Bangladesh in the Under-19 Tri-series One-day tournament opener, at the Jadavpur University campus ground in Salt Lake, Kolkata, on Friday.
Defending a paltry 159, the home side was off to a splendid start as the six foot two inches tall pacer from Madhya Pradesh had a first-ball wicket before reducing Bangladesh to 23-4 in 6.2 overs in a rattling spell of 6-3-4-4.
The visitors were eventually bundled out for 76 in 22 overs.
Khan was well-supported by left-arm pacer Kanishk Seth (2-45) at the other end. The duo bowled 12 overs in tandem before the off-spin and leg-spin pair of Mayank Dagar (1-7) and Zeeshan Ansari (2-1) wiped off the tail and earned India a bonus point.
Off the first delivery, Khan produced an off-cutter that sharply cut in; a ball later Bangladesh opener Mohammad Saif Hasan chose to leave the delivery, which went on to clip his off-stump.
It was a superb spell with the new ball; the generated bounce and movement off the seam troubled the Bangladesh top order.
In his next over, Khan had Pinak Ghosh (1) caught behind.
From the Bangladesh perspective, none of their top-order batsman looked to hold on as they played some casual shots and wickets fell at regular intervals in the face of a small target.
"We've been playing together for about three years now and this is for the first time I've seen such an atrocious batting. I totally blame the batsmen; they did not apply themselves and we lost the game," Bangladesh skipper Mehidy Hasan Miraz told newsmen after the defeat.
"But we hope to bounce back; it's a long tournament as we'll play each other twice."
India have five points, while Bangladesh are yet to open their account in the tournament, also involving Afghanistan.
India takes on Afghanistan on Saturday in their second match.
Earlier, India skipper Ricky Bhui's decision to bat first seemed to have backfired as Bangladesh seamer Mohammad Abdul Halim (2-24) claimed wickets off successive balls.
His first wicket was a gem; he held on to a superb low catch on his follow through to dismiss Ishan Kishan. Off the next delivery, he bowled Jharkhand's Virat Singh.
The Indian youngsters too failed to come up as a unit and were reduced to 76-7 as the Bangladeshi skipper (3-31) with his off-breaks emerged wrecker-in-chief.
Khan also excelled with the bat as his quickfire 25 not out from 29 balls (1x6, 2x4) in a 29-run partnership with Zeeshan Ansari (34 from 63 balls; 5x4) ensured India got past the 150-run mark.
Brief Scores:
India Under-19: 158 in 45.3 overs (Sunder Washington 34, Zeeshan Ansari 34; Mehidy Hasan Miraz 3-31, Mohammad Abdul Halim 2-24, Saleh Ahmed Shawon Gazi 2-26).
Bangladesh Under-19: 76 in 22 overs (Avesh Khan 4-4, Kanishk Seth 2-45, Zeeshan Ansari 2-1).
Points: India 5. Bangladesh 0.
