IND vs IRE, Under-19 World Cup: Musheer Khan Stars As India Crush Ireland By 201 Runs

Musheer Khan gave ample display of his immense talent with a superb hundred as India steam-rolled minnows Ireland by a whopping 201 runs to virtually qualify for the Super Six round of the ICC U-19 World Cup in Bloemfontein, South Africa on Thursday. Courtesy Musheer's blitzkrieg -- 118 off 106 balls, India posted an imposing 301 for 7 against Ireland, which in any case, would have been an uphill challenge to surpass. In the end, Ireland managed a paltry 100 in 29.4 overs with medium pacer Naman Tiwari (4/53 in 10 overs) and left-arm spinner Saumy Kumar Pandey (3/21 in 9 overs) doing the bulk of the damage. Seven Irish batters failed to reach double figures.

The Indian team was just too good for the Irish and the gulf in standard was evident across all departments.

India have now won both their group league games and the game against USA, which is 'mini-India' with 11 expats of Indian descent, is expected to be another walk in the park.

However, the day belonged to 18-year-old Mumbai boy Musheer.

On the same day when his elder brother Sarfaraz scored 161 in an unofficial Test versus England Lions in Ahmedabad, thousands of kilometres away in Bloemfontein, Musheer paced his innings brilliantly hitting nine fours and four sixes in the process.

"We both have same style of play. I am very happy but not satisfied as I need to play much better in the coming games. In the last match, I was in a bit of rush but today I was patient and waited for the loose deliveries. The six I hit over mid-wicket off the fast bowler was special. All thanks to Almighty Allah," Musheer said after the match.

He took only 34 balls to race to 100 from 50, having scored the first 50 runs off 66 balls. Along with skipper Uday Saharan (75 off 84 balls),