Defending champions India beat Australia by 74 runs to enter the semi-finals of the ICC Under-19 World Cup
India trounced Australia by 74 runs to enter the semi-finals of the ICC Under-19 World Cup . India are the defending champions of the tournament as they had won the event in 2018 held in New Zealand.
Batting first, India crawled their way to 233 for 9 in 50 overs and then bowled out the Aussies to 159 in 43.3 overs to celebrate a comprehensive victory.
India’s semi-final entry was built around opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, all-rounder Atharva Ankolekar, Ravi Bishnoi and Kartik Tyagi as each of them played stellar role. At 114/5 in 30 overs, India were in serious trouble of getting out for a sub-par total and that despite Jaiswal’s fluent 62 off 82 deliveries with six fours and two sixes.
Siddesh Veer (25), Ankolekar and Bishnoi ensured that India reach a handy total on a pitch that got slowed down progressively. Bishnoi (30, 31 balls, 1×4, 1×6) and Ankolekar (55, 54 balls, 5×5, 1×6) shared a 61-run stand in just over 10 overs as India gained desired momentum in the death overs. By no means, chasing 234 was a mountainous task for Australia. But they were derailed by pacer Kartik Tyagi. He jettisoned Mackenzie Harvey, Lachian Hearne and Olivier Davies in the space of three overs, while Jake Fraser-McGurk was run out as Australia slipped to 17/4 in 2.3 overs and they never really recovered from those early blows.
With nearly half of the side back in the hut even before the chase had begun, Aussies were never really in a position to launch an all-out attack and were made to preserver their wickets and look for safe runs. Sam Fanning (75, 127 balls, 7×4, 3×6) and Liam Scott (35) tried to keep the Aussies in the hunt but they were presented with hardly any freebies by the frugal Indian bowlers.The final nail in Australia’s chase was the dismissal of Fanning, consumed by Akash Singh and the Aussie line-up folded without further delay as the Indian lads celebrated their semi-final entry.Brief scores: India U19: 233/9 in 50 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 62, Atharva Ankolekar 55, Ravi Bishnoi 35, Corey Kelly 2-45, Todd Murphy 2-40) beat Australia U19: 159 all out in 43.3 overs (Sam Fanning 75, Liam Scott 35; Kartik Tyagi 4-24, Akash Singh 3-30) by 74 runs.
Kartik Tyagi scalps four wickets while Yashasvi Jaiswal and Atharva Ankolekar score fifties to guide India to victory.
This article was originally published in myKhel.com