Australia Overcome Raza Special to set India vs. Australia in the U19 World Cup Final
Australia won the thrilling semi-final at Benoni against Pakistan by a single wicket.
Ankush Pandey
Toss
- After winning the toss, Australia decided to field
Result
- Australia won by a single wicket.
Australia chose to chase against Pakistan
Australia chose to chase against Pakistan in the second semi-final, much like India did on Tuesday. The bowlers responded to Hugh Weibgen's summons, with Tom Straker taking the most wickets with six to help bowl out Pakistan for 179. The greatest bowling stats by a bowler in an U19 World Cup semifinal or final were Straker's 6/24. With the help of Ali Raza (4/34) and Arafat Minhas (2/20), Pakistan came back, and they had a chance to win all the way to the finish. But Australia, led by Oliver Peake and Harry Dixon, was able to edge past Pakistan by the narrowest of margins.
Australia made a solid start in their pursuit of 180 thanks to Harry Dixon and Sam Konstas. In the first Powerplay, the pair scored 33 runs together, but Ali Raza was irrepressible and broke the stand to open the second Powerplay. He managed to get one to nip back in, sending Konstas cartwheeling off-stump. In the 14th over, captain Hugh Weibgen gave Pakistan a fortunate break when he hit a full toss from Naveed Khan straight to Haroon Arshad at cover. Wickets kept falling; in the sixteenth over, Ryan Hicks played on a delivery from Ubaid Shah after Harjas Singh was run out due to a misunderstanding. The Australia innings was then rebuilt by Dixon and Ollie Peake working together. With consistent strokeplay, they advanced steadily and, when Dixon reached his half-century in the 24th over, they helped resurrect Australia's chase. But just when Australia appeared to be winning the match, Minhas bowled a stunning blow to Dixon. Australia's asking rate gradually increased as he kept causing them problems with his left-arm spin and superb control when bowling. Tom Campbell's entrance made it possible to bat left-to-right. Together, Campbell and Peake created a partnership that allowed Australia to come one step closer to their goal.
Pakistan required a breakthrough to regain momentum in the match, and Minhas delivered with a brilliant bowling performance that saw Campbell dismissed for 25 in the 39th over. After that, it was anyone's game until Raza took out the important Peake for 49.Pakistan was one wicket away from securing a place in the final after Raza's double-wicket final over. However, Callum Vidler and Raf MacMillan remained composed, allowing the game to go into the last over. Sadly for Pakistan, at the start of the last over, MacMillan inside-edged Zeeshan, and the ball escaped all of them and ended up on the fine leg fence. Australia managed to slip through, much to Pakistan's dismay.
The best player with the ball, Straker is unmatched.
Earlier, in the first few overs of the Pakistani innings, Shahzaib Khan and Shamyl Hussain easily defeated Australia's new-ball bowlers.But Tom Straker in and broke the stand right away; Shamyl Hussain attempted to pull the bowler but discovered the field. In the very next over, Vidler made a major impact by taking out Shahzaib. The southpaw attempted to drive Vidler past point, but Weibgen held on. The southpaw had headed Pakistan's scoring records in the U19 World Cup.The second Powerplay was more of the same for Pakistan. In the fifteenth over, Straker scored his second wicket, dismissing Pakistani captain Saad Baig for three. Shortly after, MacMillan made a contribution by trapping Ahmad Hassan leg before.
In an attempt to turn the tide, Azan Awais and Haroon Arshad put together a partnership for the fifth wicket, but Mahli Beardman came back and brilliantly removed the latter. Australia was first place.Over the next few overs, Awais and Minhas were able to hold their own and released their arms to increase the pace of scoring. In the overs 31–40, fifty runs were scored.Once again, it was Straker who broke the crucial partnership, getting Awais (52) to steal one behind. And Pakistan was facing certain defeat when Minhas went down after hitting his own fifty. Straker finished with a 6/24 after tidying up the tail.
