Saumy Pandey, who went unsold in IPL 2024, picks hat-trick against Afghanistan U-19 in Johannesburg

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Saumy Pandey wreaked havoc by picking a hat-trick against Afghanistan U-19 in the first match of the South Africa U-19 Tri-series 2023-24 in Johannesburg on Friday, December 29. The India U-19 left-arm spinner picked the wickets of Jamshid Zadran, Numan Shah and Rahimullah Zurmati on the third, fourth and fifty deliveries of the 17th over.

Afghanistan, who were cruising at 85/2 in 13.2 overs, were reduced to 93/5 in 16.5 overs. Saumy Pandey soon cleaned the stumps of Nasir Hassan to leave Afghanistan reeling further at 95/6.

The 19-year-old finished with figures of 6/29 in 10 overs as Afghanistan Under-19 were bundled out for 197 in 48.2 overs. India chased down the target in 36.4 overs, and with six wickets remaining.

Pandey was also part of India's U-19 squad for the ACC U-19 Asia Cup 2023, but failed to take a single wicket despite featuring in four matches in the tournament.

The tri-nation series also involves South Africa. The tournament is acting as the dress rehearsal opportunity for all the three teams who will be seen playing in the U-19 World Cup 2023 from January 19 in South Africa.

India will next face South Africa in the third match of the series on Tuesday, January 2. The final match will be played on Wednesday, January 10.

India Squad for U-19 World Cup 2024: Arshin Kulkarni, Adarsh Singh, Rudra Mayur Patel, Sachin Dhas, Priyanshu Moliya, Musheer Khan, Uday Saharan (c), Aravelly Avanish Rao (WK), Saumy Kumar Pandey (VC), Murugan Abhishek, Innesh Mahajan (wk), Dhanush Gowda, Aaradhya Shukla, Raj Limbani and Naman Tiwari