PHOTOS: India register 40-run victory over Pakistan in Under-19 World Cup

Sarfaraz Khan and Sanju Samson hit excellent half-centuries and Deepak Hooda took five wickets as defending champion India defeated two-time former winner and traditional rivals Pakistan by 40 runs on day two of the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in Dubai, on Saturday.

- Scorecard

Khan scored an invaluable 74 and Samson chipped in with a priceless 68 as the two batsmen put on 119 runs for the fifth wicket to lift India from 94 for four to 262 for seven in 50 overs.

Openers Sami Aslam (64) and Imam-ul-Haq (39) then provided Pakistan a flying start of 109 runs, but the green shirts failed to maintain the momentum against some disciplined bowling, led by Deepak Hooda (five for 41), and athletic fielding to be bowled out for 222.

This was India's third victory in eight matches over Pakistan in the U-19 Cricket World Cup. Overall, India now leads 12-8 in 21 U-19 matches to date.

India twice bounced back to turn the tables on Pakistan in front of a small but jubilant crowd at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

After electing to bat first, India openers Akhil Herwadkar (41) and Ankush Bains (24) took full advantage of Pakistan's wayward bowling to race to 65-0 in eight overs, before Irfanullah Shah (two for 32) provided the initial breakthrough that resulted in three more wickets as India slipped to 94 for four.

However, at that stage, Sarfaraz Khan and Sanju Samson got involved in a rescue mission. Sarfaraz, who took 16 balls to get off the mark and was also dropped by Sami in the slip, later turned aggressive and scored most of his runs through sweep shots. He brought up his half-century with a six and eventually fell to Zafar Gohar at the score of 213 but not before he had scored 74 from 78 balls that also included five fours and a six.

Samson followed Sarfaraz 16 runs later after scoring a well-constructed 68 that came off 101 balls and included two fours and a six.

Pakistan, which conceded 96 runs through boundaries, needed a solid start to stay in pursuit of a 263 runs target hunt which it got through Sami Aslam and Imam-ul-Haq when the two put on 109 runs in just over 23 overs. However, at that stage Imam ran out of patience and was caught at the long-off and a few balls later Sami was run-out.

Pakistan never recovered from the dismissal of the two settled batsmen as not only the runs dried up, but the wickets continued to fall from both ends. Pakistan's resistance finally came to an end in the 49th over when it was bowled out for 222.

For India, Baroda's 18-year-old off-spinner Deepak Hooda was the most impressive bowler when he recorded figures of 10-0-41-5.

Man of the match Sarfaraz Khan, commenting on his performance, said: "I had a quiet start as Pakistan was bowling well on a wicket which had something for the bowlers. But then I relied on my favourite sweep shot and I'm glad it worked today.

"Our other matches in this group as are against Scotland and PNG, so I'm happy that I've been able to put up a good performance against Pakistan."
 
Sami Aslam admitted his side was below par. "We didn't bowl well in the first spell and the batting was equally below-par. But this is a long tournament and I'm sure come the knock-out matches, we'll be in a good shape."