The defending champions Indian youngsters reached the U19 Cricket World Cup final for the third consecutive times after thrashing Pakistan U19 in the first semi-final of ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2020.
After winning the toss, Pakistan U19 captain Rohail Nazir decided to bat first. While the Pakistan youths managed to score only 172 runs, Indian openers chased down the target in 35.1 overs without harming their wickets (176/0).
The opening batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal slammed a century in that chasing as he was not out on 105 runs off 113 balls (8 fours and 4 sixes). He completed that century with a sixer, and it was also the winning runs. Meanwhile, the other opener Divyaansh Saxena scored 59 not out off 99 balls (6 fours).
Indian bowlers dominated in the first innings
Pakistan lost their first two wickets inside the first powerplay as they were battling on 34/2. Opener Haider Ali and skipper Rohail Nazir controlled that innings and put the 62 runs partnership for the third wicket. But after that partnership was broken, Pakistan youths lost their next wickets in regular intervals, and they were bundled out in 43.1 overs.
Apart from the two half-centurion batsmen Haider Ali (56) and Rohail Nazir (62), only Mohammad Haris (21) managed to reach the double-digit mark in that first innings.
Among the Indian bowlers, the left-arm pacer Sushant Mishra was the most successful bowler with the bowling figures of 8.1-0-28-3. Also, Kartik Tyagi (2/32) and Ravi Bishnoi (2/46) bagged two wickets each in that innings. Atharva Ankolekar (1/29) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (1/11) were the other bowlers who picked up wickets in the first innings.
Undoubtedly, Yashasvi Jaiswal (1/11 & 105*) won the Player of the Match award. The record four-time U19 CWC winners India U19 will play the final of this tournament on this Sunday (9th February) at JB Marks Oval (Potchefstroom).
It will be India’s seventh U19 CWC final, including third consecutive U19 CWC final. While India U19 won the previous edition (2018) after beating Australia U19 in New Zealand, they lost in 2016 edition against West Indies U19 in Bangladesh.
The second semi-final of the ongoing tournament will be played between New Zealand U19 and Bangladesh U19 at JB Marks Oval (Potchefstroom) on Thursday (6th February). The winner of this match will face India U19 in the final of this tournament.