India beat Pakistan in one-sided U-19 World Cup semi-final

Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal sealed India’s victory with a six 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.

Openers Jaiswal and Divyaansh Saxena held their ground against Pakistani bowlers, whose efforts to restrict runs went in vain owing to a small target.

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

India have won the U-19 World Cup title four times.

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

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.

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