Promising left-arm seamer Pardeep Sangwan wrecked South Africa with a five-wicket haul to give India their second win in cricket's under-19 World Cup here on Tuesday. Sangwan's deadly strikes bowled out South Africa for 149, a total India surpassed for the loss of four wickets to almost assure themselves of one of the two quarter-final places from group B.
In other matches, Australia survived a batting scare against Nepal before winning the group C match by 96 runs in Penang while England thrashed Bermuda by 10 wickets before lunch in group D in Kuala Lumpur.
Defending champions Pakistan, meanwhile, fought back after being dismissed for 156 by New Zealand to bowl their rivals out for 129 and win the group A in Johor by 27 runs. Pakistan, seeking a hat-trick of titles after winning the 2004 and 2006 events, were reduced to 28-4 before Usman Salahuddin (53) and Ali Asad (42) boosted the total.
Harry Boam was the lone New Zealander to shine with 38 as Ahmad Shahzad claimed 3-35 to fashion Pakistan's remarkable win. South Africa, who had beaten the West Indies on Monday, collapsed to 45-5 after electing to bat against India with Sangwan picking up all the wickets.
Captain Wayne Parnell (31) and Jonathan Vandiar (53) put on 64 for the sixth wicket before left-arm spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Iqbal Abdullah ripped through the lower half. When India batted, opener Taruwar Kohli hit 54 and Tanmay Srivastava made 47 before captain Virat Kohli's unbeaten 25 saw his team home in the 42nd over.
Sangwan, 18, who last month helped Delhi win the Ranji Trophy first-class tournament with a nine-wicket haul in the final against Uttar Pradesh, was named man of the match for his 5-44.
India, easy winners over Papua New Guinea in their first match, need a win over the West Indies in their last league game on Friday to top the group. South Africa must beat Papua New Guinea by a big margin on Thursday to keep their quarter-final hopes alive.
Nepal, who stunned South Africa and New Zealand in the previous under-19 World Cup two years ago, created another stir when they bowled out Australia for 206 with three balls remaining in the innings.
The Aussies caved in under sustained pressure from the accurate Nepalese bowlers despite a first-wicket stand of 62 by openers Kirk Pascoe (37) and Philip Hughes (46). Nepal's captain Paras Khadka was the main destroyer with four wickets while Raj Shrestha took 3-32.
But the Nepalese batsmen failed to match the efforts of the bowlers and were shot out for 110 in the 33rd over with only Rahul Vishwakarma being the notable contributor with an unbeaten 33. England and Bangladesh, almost certain to take the two quarter-final spots from group D, clash in the league match on Friday to determine the group leader.