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DHAKA, Feb 29: Fawad Alam and Tariq Mahmood held their nerve when Pakistan were in a precarious position with a decisive partnership to propel their side into the ICC Under-19 World Cup final with a five-wicket victory over India on Sunday.
India, the favourites, had their batsmen to blame, who could muster only 169 in the face of some very disciplined bowling in the first Super League day/night semifinal.
Yet the Indian bowlers did their bit by picking up early wickets, but the unbroken 88-run partnership between the left-handed Fawad (43 off 50 balls, seven fours) and Tariq (45 off 61 balls, four fours and one six) provided an ideal lesson in pacing a run-chase.
They came together with the score at 83 for five. Scurrying between the wickets, deftly gliding and nudging, they slowly uncorked the pressure valve. And when the target looked within striking range, they did just that. Out came the ballistics and the ball soared like a rocket in all directions of the Bangabandhu National Stadium field.
India needed an exceptional effort to defend their moderate total. They began on the right note when Gaurav Dhiman and Rudra Pratap Singh sent back Pakistan captain Khalid Latif (1) and Jahangir Mirza (9).
Adnan Zaheer looked good in making 18 but he was next out, shortly followed by Usman Saeed for 19. And when Salman Qadir, son of the legendary Test leg-spinner Abdul Qadir, departed after making 24, Pakistan looked in serious trouble. But then Fawad joined Tariq in the match-winning partnership.
Earlier, Shikhar Dhawan took strike with 497 championship runs with three centuries to his name already. But on Sunday he scored just eight before he miscued a pull off paceman Ali Imran and spooned a catch to Khalid Latif at mid-on.
Praful Waghela, drafted in place of the suspended Indian captain Ambati Rayudu, was out for a first-ball duck when he was trapped in front of the stumps by opening bowler Riaz Afridi.
Robin Uthappa top-scored with 33 off 67 balls. Sunny Singh (25), Rakesh Solanki (21) and Abhishek Sharma (21 not out) were the only other Indians to cross the 20-run mark.
Bowling honours were evenly shared by Riaz Afridi, Ali Imran, and the spin trio of Mansoor Amjad, Salman Qadir and Tariq Mahmood. Tariq was declared Man-of-the-Match for his brilliant all-round efforts.
Pakistan now await the winners of the other day/night semifinal between England and the West Indies at the same venue on Tuesday. The final is scheduled for Friday.
Scoreboard
INDIA:
A.R. Uthappa c Mansoor b Salman 33
S. Dhawan c Khalid b Ali Imran 8
P. Waghela lbw b Riaz 0
R.K. Solanki run out 21
S. Raina c Zulqarnain b Tariq 17
K.K.D. Karthik c Khalid b Salman 7
Sunny Singh b Mansoor 25
Gaurav Dhiman c Salman b Tariq 14
A. Sharma not out 21
P. Gupta b Ali Imran 3
R.P. Singh c Salman b Riaz 1
EXTRAS (LB-6, W-9, NB-4) 19
TOTAL (all out, 47.3 overs) 169
FALL OF WKTS: 1-23, 2-24, 3-73, 4-80, 5-92, 6-113, 7-135, 8-147, 9-166.
BOWLING: Riaz Afridi 8.3-0-31-2 (2nb, 4w); Ali Imran 9-0-38-2 (2nb, 3w); Mansoor Amjad 10-0-33-1 (2w); Salman Qadir 10-0-27-2; Tariq Mahmood 10-2-34-2.
PAKISTAN:
Khalid Latif lbw b Dhiman 1
Adnan Zaheer c Sharma b Gupta 18
Jahangir Mirza lbw b Singh 9
Usman Saeed b Sharma 19
Salman Qadir c Karthik b Singh 24
Tariq Mahmood not out 45
Fawad Alam not out 43
EXTRAS (LB-7, W-3, NB-2) 12
TOTAL (for five wkts, 44.5 overs) 171
FALL OF WKTS: 1-3, 2-20, 3-48, 4-68, 5-83.
DID NOT BAT: Zulqarnain Haider, Riaz Afridi, Mansoor Amjad, Ali Imran.
BOWLING: Gaurav Dhiman 8-0-34-1 (1nb); Singh 10-2-25-2 (3w); Gupta 7-2-24-1 (1w); Raina 10-1-34-0; Sharma 8.5-1-43-1; Solanki 1-0-4-0.
RESULT: Pakistan won by five wickets.
UMPIRES: B. Doctrove (West Indies and J.W. Lloyds (England).
TV UMPIRE: Mahbubur Rahman (Bangladesh).
MATCH REFEREE: R.S. Mahanama (Sri Lanka).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Tariq Mahmood.
SECOND SEMIFINAL: England v West Indies at Dhaka (D/N) on Tuesday. -Agencies
