Defending champions India started their quest for a second successive title in style, thrashing qualifiers Afghanistan by eight wickets in their opening Group A match of the ICC Under-19 cricket World Cup in Lincoln on Friday.
Indian skipper Ashok Maneria elected to field in the lop-sided encounter and his bowlers kept the faith by packing off the minnows for 118 in 49.2 overs.
Chasing the paltry target, Indian batsmen hardly broke a sweat and romped to 122 for two in just 25.2 overs.
For Afghanistan, skipper Noor-ul-Haq waged a lone battle with a painfully slow 61-run knock that came off 119 balls.
The rest of the Afghan line-up flopped in unison with eight batsmen failing to touch double figures.
India's new-ball pair of Sandeep Sharma and Saurabh Netravalkar, who bowled for 20 overs in a row, were exceptionally hostile against an inexperienced team that defied the odds to make the cut for the elite under-19 event.
Netravalkar was the pick of the lot with figures of 2 for 23. Sandeep also scalped one and the duo shared three top-order wickets between them.
Later, spin twins Manan Sharma and Gaurav Jathar ripped through the lower half of the Afghan line-up.
The chase was hardly a challenge for India, though the team did lose an early wicket in Mayank Agarwal (10).
But Rahul Kannaur (35), Mandeep Singh (51 not out) and Maneria (15 not out) ensured that there were no further hiccups. Mandeep completed the formalities with a massive six which also brought up his half century.
The win gave India two points and they will next play Hong Kong on Sunday in Christchurch. India had earlier won the tournament in 2000 and were runners up to Pakistan in the 2006 edition.
Afghanistan:
Javed Ahmadi run out 19
Zakiullah Zaki c Mandeep b Sandeep 1
Shir Shirzai c Harpreet b Netravalkar 4
Noor-ul-Haq c Jathar b Manan 61
Hashmatullah Shaidi c Harpreet b Netravalkar 0
Murad Ali c Shaikh b Unadkat 2
Afsar Khan st Shaikh b Jathar 12
Ayan Aminzai c Sandeep b Manan 6
Aftab Alam c Shaikh b Jathar 0
Izatullah Dawlatzai c Menaria b Unadkat 4
Yamin Ahmadzai not out 3
Extras (lb-2, w-4) 6
Total (all out; 49.2 overs) 118
Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-22, 3-31, 4-31, 5-38, 6-82, 7-97, 8-99, 9-113
Bowling: Sandeep 10-4-13-1, Netravalkar 10-4-23-2, Harpreet 9-0-17-0, Unadkat 6.2-1-17-2, Jathar 10-2-28-2, Manan 4-0-18-2.
India:
Rahul Kannaur c Javed b Shirzai 35
Mayank Agarwal c Zakiullah b Aftab 10
Mandeep Singh not out 51
Ashok Menaria not out 15
Extras (lb-3, w-7, nb-1) 11
Total (2 wickets; 25.2 overs) 122
Bowling: Aftab 7-0-24-1, Ahmadzai 6-0-27-0, Shirzai 4-0-29-1, Izatullah 5-0-21-0, Zakiullah Zaki 0.4-0-7-0, Aminzai 1.4-0-11, Javed Ahmadi 1-0-1-0.
