Struggling South Africa u19 squad suffers second defeat in preparation for World Cup
The struggling South Africa u19 side currently taking part in a Tri-Series involving Afghanistan and India, suffered another blow after a strong Indian batting line-up comfortably chased down the 240 set by the South Africans at the Alan Dawson Oval at Old Eds in Johannesburg.
This comes just two days after they tasted a 47-run defeat against Afghanistan.
Lhuan-dré Pretorius, however, has probably been the only one who’s lived up to expectations, notching up his second half-century after scoring 51 on Sunday.
Pretorius led from the front again as he and Steve Stolk combined for a blistering 93-run partnership before Stolk had to depart in the tenth over for 46 runs coming off just 27 balls.
Pretorius moved along nicely before the continuous pressure from the Indian bowlers led to his downfall as he was trapped in front by Saumy Pandey for 67 runs from 61 deliveries.
After his departure, the young South African’s batting woes against spin continued as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Nqobani Mokoena was the only other SA batsman to pass the 20-run mark, contributing a vital 28 not out from 36 balls.
In the bowling department, the young South African bowlers were found wanting, struggling to produce a much-needed breakthrough early on. It seemed to only be Mqobani Mokoena, who had answers for the Indian-batting lineups’ questions, claiming the best South African figures of 2/58 on the day.
The Indian openers started on a positive note, capitalizing on the South Africans erring in their line and lengths early on. Ardash Singh put in a masterclass as he was the main fiddle upfront scoring 66 runs from 70 deliveries before Juan James finally got the needed breakthrough and Ntando Zuma finished it off with a wonderful stumping.
On the other side, Singh’s opening partner, Arnish Kulkarni, struggled against some decent swing bowling from South Africa’s spearhead, Kwena Mapakha, but battled on to eventually end up top-scoring for the visitors with a well-constructed 91 from 106 balls.
The wicketkeeper, Aravelly Rao also chipped in with a valuable contribution of 60 runs not out, staying to the end to round off a commanding seven-wicket victory for the Indians.
Summarised Scorecards:
South Africa 240 (Lhuan-dre Pretorius 67, Steve Stolk 46, Nqobani Mokoena 28*; Aradhya Shukla 4/43/ Saumy Pandey 3/49, Arshin Kulkarni 2/53); India 244/3 (Kulkarni 91, Ardash Singh 66, Aravelly Rao 60*; Mokoena 2/58). India won by seven wickets.
South Africa vs Afghanistan | 31 December 2023
Afghanistan 176 (Rahimullah Zurmari 47, Jamshid Zadran 33, Hassan Eisakhil 31; Martin Khumalo 4/42, Kwena Maphaka 3/44); South Africa 129 (Lhuan-dré Pretorius 51, Steve Stolk 25; Arab Gul Momad 4/13, AM Ghazanfar 4/36). Afghanistan won by 47 runs.
