Townsville (Queensland, Australia), Aug.12 (ANI): The West Indies' decision to base themselves in Australia for an extended period prior to the start of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2012 provided an immediate outcome on Sunday, with an impressive four wicket win over India in a Group C fixture at Tony Ireland Stadium in Townsville, Queensland.
The Caribbean crew was unbeaten in four warm-up games in Brisbane before heading to Townsville and showed the value of a strong batting line-up and a fast bowling attack that is relishing the bouncy pitches in Queensland.
Meanwhile, in the other matches of the day, South Africa got its tournament underway in similar fashion by overcoming Bangladesh by 133 runs in Brisbane.
New Zealand did not miss a beat against qualifier Scotland by winning its Group B match by 39 runs.
England bounced back from Saturday's defeat to Australia to beat Ireland by seven wickets in a Group C match in Townsville.
After the first two days, all teams have now played at least one game.
The West Indies kicked off its campaign with a successful run-chase against India.ndia was restricted to 166 for eight by a tight West Indies bowling unit.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Smit Patel top scored for the side, hitting a patient 51 (99b, 5x4) before being bowled by fast bowler Ronsford Beaton who finished as the most successful West Indies bowler with figures of 10-1-33-3.
Right-arm medium-pacer Kyle Mayers claimed the important wicket of India captain Unmukt Chand and was consistent, ending with two for 35 from 10 overs.
India's fast bowler Sandeep Sharma snared the early wickets of West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite (four) and Sunil Ambris (four), finishing with the tidy figures of two for 27 from 10 overs with two maidens.
But John Campbell (36) and Anthony Alleyne (52) put the West Indies back on track with a 58-run third wicket partnership. For the fifth wicket, Alleyne and Kyle Mayers (43) put on another 58 runs after the West Indies had slipped from 71 for two to 75 for four.
India's left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh was handy with the ball picking up three wickets, but unfortunately not enough to successfully defend the Indian total and the West Indies claimed victory with 17 balls to spare.
Mayers, who was adjudged player of the match, later said: "India had some quality spinners, and I thought they bowled really well with great variation. I tried to bowl as tight as possible to create some pressure and eventually it worked out.
"There is always room for improvement; I would have liked to bat right through to the end.
"It is always good to start with a win and we would like to keep winning as a habit and continue on and win all of our games," he said.(ANI)
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