U-19 World Cup: How India knocked out Pakistan to reach the semifinals, despite not producing their A game

When India’s innings folded for 252, a promising chase lay in store. Or so, one thought. With India already having 6 points and England through to the semi-finals, this ICC Under-19 World Cup Super Six fixture was not just a must-win for Pakistan. To eliminate India, they had to get to the target in 33.3 overs or less. A riveting contest worthy of a final instead turned into a non-starter as Pakistan showed no ambition of overhauling the target in the said overs and instead went for a win that mattered little in the bigger scheme of things. That defensive approach eventually took them nowhere as they lost the fixture by 58 runs at Bulawayo on Sunday. The win means India’s hope of winning their sixth age-group title is intact. On to the semifinals, India would hope they bring their A-game against Afghanistan. On a pitch where scoring runs at a higher-rate has been challenging throughout the tournament, the eventual prize in store should have inspired Pakistan, particularly after they did most parts right in the first half of the match. That they restricted India to 252 was commendable, but they could have had fewer runs to chase if they had got their act together and held on to the chances offered by India. After removing India’s top three inside the first powerplay, they were guilty of not making breakthroughs in the next 10 overs and thanks to their slow over-rate, they also paid the price of having one fielder less outside the circle in the last three overs. It meant India got a few boundaries in the death overs which boosted their total. Even then, the timid approach with the bat from Pakistan’s top-order came as a surprise, particularly when they had shown against India in the Asia Cup final that they can go bonkers in the powerplay. Much of Pakistan’s hopes rested on opener Sameer Minhas, who after hitting a whirlwind 172 in the Asia Cup final, had been their in-form batsman in the World Cup. Coming into the game on the back of unbeaten 74 and 76 against Zimbabwe and New Zealand, he started in typical fashion, scoring two boundaries. But on a pitch where the odd ball kept low, he paid the price for playing from the crease as Henil Patel pinned him in front in the fourth over. The celebrations in India’s camp said as much about how big a scalp this was. AS IT HAPPENED | INDIA VS PAKISTAN UNDER-19 WORLD CUP SUPER SIX MATCH From there on, with the asking rate to qualify shooting, Pakistan didn’t show urgency. Hamza Zahoor and Usman Khan looked assured, but hardly put pressure on the India attack that only seemed to grow in confidence with the opponents’ timid approach. At times the left-right duo will show signs of unshackles, but it would fade away eventually. They seemed to build a platform for the middle-order to explode. The numbers told a story. In the first 21 overs, despite losing only two wickets, they consumed 84 dot balls. With this approach, India’s spinners Kanish Chouhan and Khilan Patel didn’t need any second invitation to tighten the screws. Once the semi-final equation was out of question, Pakistan lost the plot completely. Thanks to the pressure created by his frontline spinners, skipper Ayush Mhatre grabbed three wickets as Pakistan imploded.Story continues below this ad Surviving the tide Earlier, India appeared to be heading to no man’s land before their middle-order and lower-order produced a rescue act. As expected, Pakistan’s seamers started on a high note with Ali Raza, Mohammad Sayyam and Abdul Subhan finding movement. In the first six overs there were standout shots as well as near misses for Pakistan seamers before left-arm seamer Sayyam nabbed the prized wickets of Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Mhatre in the eighth over. In the next over, Subhan broke through the defence of Aaron George with a peach as India lost three wickets in the space of four deliveries. But Vedant Trivedi batted with a calm head, getting things done in singles and twos even as Vihaan Malhotra and Abhigyan Kundu threw away their starts. Reaching a total close to 250 seemed unlikely. When Trivedi departed after a composed 68 off 98, with the score on 182, it was left to the lower-order to do the heavy lifting. And India’s all-rounders — RS Ambrish, Kanishk and Khilan – came to the party. Initially, they looked for a safer ground, but Kansikh provided the much-needed impetus before Khilan also swung the momentum India’s way. Having won all their matches, India are in another semi-finals. But ahead of their match against Afghanistan on Wednesday, they have a few concerns as they are far from producing their A-game. Brief Scores: India Under-19 252 (Trivedi 68, Chouhan 35, Subhan 3-33) beat Pakistan Under-19 194 (Usman 66, Zahoor 42, Mhatre 3-21, Khilan 3-35) by 58 runs

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