India crush Pakistan in one-sided contest to make their way to U-19 World Cup final

Published February 4, 2020
India’s batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal celebrates after scoring a century during the ICC Under-19 World Cup cricket semi-final between India and Pakistan at the Senwes Park, in Potchefstroom, on February 4, 2020. — AFP
India’s batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal celebrates after scoring a century during the ICC Under-19 World Cup cricket semi-final between India and Pakistan at the Senwes Park, in Potchefstroom, on February 4, 2020. — AFP
Indian players celebrate after Pakistan were bowled out for 172 in the U-19 World Cup semi-final. — Photo courtesy Cricket World Cup Twitter account
Indian players celebrate after Pakistan were bowled out for 172 in the U-19 World Cup semi-final. — Photo courtesy Cricket World Cup Twitter account
Pakistan's Fahad Munir (L) plays a shot as India's Dhruv Jurel (R) looks on during the Semi-Final of the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup between India and Pakistan at the Senwes Park in Potchefstroom on February 4, 2020. — AFP
Pakistan's Fahad Munir (L) plays a shot as India's Dhruv Jurel (R) looks on during the Semi-Final of the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup between India and Pakistan at the Senwes Park in Potchefstroom on February 4, 2020. — AFP
The second wicket fell in the ninth over when Fahad Munir departed for naught.— Photo courtesy PCB Twitter
The second wicket fell in the ninth over when Fahad Munir departed for naught.— Photo courtesy PCB Twitter

Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal sealed India's victory with a six over deep mid-wicket in a one-sided ICC Under-19 World Cup semi-final against Pakistan on Tuesday.

The defending champions comfortably chased the paltry 173-runs target without losing a single wicket. They will either meet New Zealand or Bangladesh in the final, which will be held on February 9 at Potchefstroom, South Africa.

Jaiswal, who struck an unbeaten 105 off 113 balls and hit the winning shot, said: "It's a dream come true for me. To be able to do this for my country is a great feeling. To score a hundred against Pakistan in a World cup semi-final is something I can't put into words."

"They (Pakistan) bowled well initially and we wanted to ride that out and we knew we could dominate them after that."

Left-hander Jaiswal, who was snapped up by the Rajasthan Royals in the 2020 Indian Premier League auction, smacked eight fours and four sixes as he took over as the tournament's leading runscorer.

He was ably supported in a leisurely chase by Divyaansh Saxena who finished 59 not out, his second fifty of the competition.

The match was played at Senwes Park, Potchefstroom in South Africa.

This is the seventh time India have made it to the U-19 World Cup final and have won the title four times.

Pakistan innings

Earlier, Pakistan were bundled out for 172 runs after just 43 overs as they fell before an atrocious Indian bowling attack.

The loss of skipper Rohail Nazir (62), who fell to Tilak Varma in the 42nd over, took away the team's remaining resistance and Tahir Hussain (2) and Aamir Ali (1) walked back soon after.

Nazir, Haider Ali (56) and Mohammad Haris (21) were the only batsmen to score double digits.

The green shirts had gotten off to a shaky start as Mohammad Huraira returned to the pavilion after posting just four runs on the board. He was caught at fine leg by Saxena on Sushant Mishra's ball.

The second wicket fell in the ninth over when Fahad Munir departed for naught. He was caught at point Atharva Ankolekar on Ravi Bishnoi's ball.

Haider Ali (R) is congratulated by captain Rohail Nazir after scoring a half-century. — AFP
Haider Ali (R) is congratulated by captain Rohail Nazir after scoring a half-century. — AFP

Opener Ali and skipper Nazir put up some resistance and built up a 50-plus runs partnership. But it came to an end after Ali fell to Yashasvi Jaiswal in the 26th over. Nazir stood his ground, despite his teammates' inability to hold their own and scored a half-century.

Ali was replaced by Qasim Akram (9), who was run-out in the 31st over after a mix-up. Haris was caught at deep square by Divyaansh Saxena — his second catch in the match.

Earlier, Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat first.

To date, India’s highest score in the tournament so far is 297 while Pakistan’s highest tally has been 294.

In a video message shared by the Pakistan Cricket Board on Twitter, captain of the T20 team, Babar Azam encouraged the young players saying that the players should not be anxious, “it is a high-pressure game and they should play within their strengths”.

The sides have played against each other nine times in Under-19 World Cups so far with Pakistan having won five of those nine matches and India having won four.

Line-ups:

India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Divyaansh Saxena, Tilak Verma, Priyam Garg (capt), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Siddhesh Veer, Atharva Ankolekar, Ravi Bishnoi, Sushant Mishra, Kartik Tyagi, Akash Singh

Pakistan: Haider Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Rohail Nazir (capt, wk), Fahad Munir, Qasim Akram, Mohammad Haris, Irfan Khan, Abbas Afridi, Tahir Hussain, Amir Ali, Mohammad Amir Khan

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