Rishabh Pant hammers fastest fifty to help India thrash Nepal in ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup 2016

Rishabh Pant smashed the fastest-ever Under-19 fifty to help the Indian team thrash Nepal by a big margin of seven wickets in the Group D match of the ongoing ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2016 match at at Dhaka on Monday. Pant began to accelerate the Indian innings right from the world ‘go’ after Nepal finished on a lowly score of 169 for the loss of eight wickets in 48 overs. He raced to his half-century in just 18 deliveries, having hammered seven fours and two sixes at the time of his milestone, before hammering two more boundaries and three more sixes. He was finally dismissed for 78 off 24 balls, getting bowled by Prem Tamang while attempting to go for a slog. India lost their first wicket with 124 runs on board in the 20th over, with the remainder of the chase being pretty much an easy task for them.

A strong player on the on-side, the lad from Roorkee, who has honed his skills at Delhi’s famous Sonnet Club, lofted Dipendra Airee over deep mid-wicket region for three huge sixes. He could have walked away with a hundred had he not tried an expansive inside out shot of Prem Tamang only to be bowled.

When asked if he was in a hurry, the stocky and cocky Pant replied: “I was not in a hurry. I was just playing my normal game. Rahul sir told me to stick to the basics.”

Earlier, Indian bowlers, led by Avesh Khan (3 for 34), restricted the Himalayan nation to 169 for 8 in a match that was reduced to 48 overs. Washington Sundar and Mayank Dagar also got a couple of wickets each. A compulsive puller, Pant teed off by hitting seamer Aarif Sheikh to the cow corner for a couple of sixes.