ICC U19 World Cup 2020: Day 18 - Round Up

India romped into a third successive ICC U19 World Cup final with a thumping ten-wicket win over rivals Pakistan in Potchefstroom. The old adversaries met at the semi-final stage in 2018 – when Pakistan were hustled out for 69 – and this was an equally emphatic victory for India with a remarkable opening partnership.

India captain Yashasvi Jaiswal struck an outstanding 105 off 113 balls and shared in a stand of 176 with Divyaansh Saxena (59 off 99 balls) as they cruised to their 173-run target with 88 balls to spare. It was Jaiswal’s maiden century of the competition that took him top of the run-scoring charts, while his partnership with Saxena smashed the previous semi-final best of 152.

The five-time champions came to South Africa highly fancied to defend their title and further justified that tag with an emphatic Super League semi-final success.  After winning the toss and batting, Pakistan slipped to 34 for two before Rohail Nazir (62 off 102 balls) and Haider Ali (56 off 77 balls) rebuilt nicely with a stand worth 62.

But it went horribly wrong from there as Sushant Mishra (3-28) struck three times amidst tight bowling from the other end that destroyed the rest of the Pakistani line-up in 43.1 overs. It was then over to Jaiswal and Saxena – the pair dominant on their way to gunning down the target in 35.2 overs.

Now Paras Mhambrey’s men will take on the winner of Thursday’s semi-final clash between New Zealand and Bangladesh in the final for the right to be crowned U19 world champions once again.

Brief Scores:

Pakistan 172 all out, 43.1 overs (Rohail Nazir 62, Haider Ali 56; Sushant Mishra 3-28, Ravi Bishnoi 2-46)

India 176 all out, 35.2 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 105*, Divyansh Saxena 59*)

Placement matches come thick and fast

Teams will scrap over Super League placings and aim to leave a lasting impression on the U19 World Cup in the coming days. South Africa will aim to go out on a high when they face Afghanistan in the 7th Place Play-Off, with the batting muscle of the host nation going up against the spin-bowling wiles of the South Asian outfit.

Group B rivals West Indies and Australia lock horns again on 7 February in Benoni to determine who finishes fifth and sixth, while Pakistan go into the 3rd Place Play-Off the following day.