That concludes our coverage of the opening day of the U19 World Cup 2026. In other action today, the West Indies secured a 5-wicket victory over Tanzania in Windhoek, while the fixture between Zimbabwe and Scotland was unfortunately abandoned without a ball being bowled. That's all for now, folks. Thank you for staying with us through the delays and the drama over the last several hours. We hope you'll join us again tomorrow for more live cricket action here at ESPNcricinfo. Until then, this is Rashad Mahbub signing off on behalf of Abhimanyu Bose and Vairavan Karuppiah. Goodnight!

Zameer: "I have been watching this U19 team since last 2 years, Kundu is the more composed and controlled batter like MSD"

Ayush Mhatre: "[A few nerves on the balcony then?] Yeah, there were some nerves because they bowled really well and hit good areas. We could have batted better, but it's part of the game. [Bowling performance] Our bowling was really good. The bowlers read the conditions well and stuck to simple lengths. They just hit the right spots consistently. [Conversation in the dressing room] The plan was simple. The batters were confident and just wanted to play normal cricket without overcomplicating things. [Feel the pressure] There will always be expectations because representing India is such a proud moment for us. In such a big country, we are honored to be here. We will just try our best to play our game throughout this World Cup."

Utkarsh Srivastava: "[Why chose to bat first] Our strength has always been to bat first, put up a big total, and defend it. When we looked at the pitch, it appeared pretty hard, so that was our reading of the surface. [Batting collapse] I think it was just the first hour and a half. The ball was swinging a bit, and we didn't read the conditions correctly. We were poking at deliveries outside off-stump. If we had played smarter cricket, we would have posted a much better total. [Celebrations and emotion] That is our strength as well. We always want to win and we love the game. We have been playing together since we were kids and have nothing to lose, so we just want to give everything. We want to upset teams; that is why we are here. [Switch to spinners] We saw two left-handers at the crease and we have two quality off-spinners in our team. The mindset was that we wanted to take wickets. [Key learnings] I think we could have read the conditions a little better. We were also a bit nervous, but that won't be there in the next game. We need to go out there and play freely rather than being restricted."

Player of the Match, Henil Patel: "Conditions were normal but I was getting some swing, so I thought of putting the length a bit in front and look for results from there. [Favourite bowler Steyn] I like his aggression. I had some help with the new ball but kept it full then. I thought I could drop my length a little once I realised the pitch was flat."

4:16 pm In a match interrupted by both rain and lightning for over two hours, India successfully navigated a drama-filled chase to start their campaign on a high. Chasing down a modest target of 108, India began steadily before Sooryavanshi was bowled by Ritvik, dragging a length ball onto his stumps while attempting a drive. A lengthy delay followed, resulting in a revised target of 96 runs from 37 overs. Upon the restart, the USA surged back into the contest by removing captain Trivedi and Mhatre in quick succession, leaving the five-time champions reeling at 25/3. However, Malhotra and Kundu kept the innings going with tremendous tenacity, despite the moist conditions and drizzle. While Malhotra departed to a brilliantly flighted delivery from Srivastava, Kundu grabbed control, scoring an authoritative 42 off 41 balls to lead India home. Despite an early dropped chance of Mhatre and a missed run-out opportunity of Malhotra in the 11th over, the United States can be encouraged by their spirited fielding performance. While the tournament is still in its early stages, their bowling performance and flashes of brilliance on the field should provide a lift to their morale in the remaining group games. Appidi finished with two wickets, while Srivastava and Shampi claimed one each. Post-match presentations are coming up next.

India Under -19 won by 6 wickets (DLS)

stays around the wicket