India U19s make a mockery of Pak

CLINICAL India ride Shubman Gill ton, Ishan Porel’s 4/17 to set up final vs Aussies

CHRISTCHURCH: The ICC Under-19 World Cup semi-final between India and Pakistan turned out to be an anti-climax at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Tuesday. India’s 203-win was their best ever in terms of runs in 50-over internationals played between the arch-rivals. Shubman Gill made an unbeaten 102, his sixth score of 50 or more in youth ODIs, as India made 272/9 after winning the toss. Seamer Ishan Porel took 4/17 as Pakistan were bowled out for 69 in under 30 overs. It was Pakistan’s lowest total ever.

India’s win sets up a clash in Saturday’s final at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui between the tournament’s only three-time champions. Australia won the title in 1988, 2002 and 2010 while India triumphed in 2000, 2008 and 2012. Australia reached the final beating Afghanistan by six wickets in their semifinal on Monday. Man of the Match Gill capitalised P Shaw run out M Kalra c Nazir b Musa S Gill not out H Desai c Saad b Iqbal R Parag c Nazir b Iqbal A Sharma c Nazir b Iqbal A Roy c Nazir b Musa K Nagarkoti b Afridi SMavic&bMusa S Singh lbw Musa I Porel not out

(nb 3, w 6) (for 9 wkts, 50 ovs) 1-89, 2-94, 3-148, 4-156, 5-166, 6-233, 7-242, 8-265, 9-267.

Iqbal 10-0-51-3, Musa 10-0-67-4, Afridi 10-0-62-1, Hasan 10-0-46-0, Taha 7-0-35-0, Asif 3-0-11-0.

Extras Total FoW:

Bowling:

41 (42) 47 (59) 102 (94) 20 (34) 2 (5) 5 (9) 33 (45) 1 (6) 10 (6) 1 (2) 1 (1)

on his fine form to produce a timely century. Indian batsmen were made to wage it out in the face of inspired spells from Muhammad Musa and Arshad Iqbal and the three-time champions needed that one big innings to set a challenging target.

SPECIAL, LUCKY TON 9 272

to long-off, where captain Hassan Khan dropped an easy catch. Gill ran two to move from 99 to 101 but was to learn later that it was a no-ball. He then got a single off the resultant free-hit to complete the innings. “I think there was not too much going in my mind. I was just playing the balls on merit. I was just thinking that not too many batsmen are left, so was just thinking one ball at a time. At 99, I was only looking to run as fast as I could,” Gill said.

“This was a special innings in a big match and their bowlers were bowling very well. I thought 250260 would be a good-enough total for the pacers to defend. I’m now looking forward to playing Australia in the final,” Gill added.

Gill took charge after openers Manjot Kalra and Prithvi Shaw had added 89. Captain Shaw’s run out gave Pakistan a window of opportunity and there was a keen battle in the mid overs as Anukul Roy (33) and Harvik Desai (20) contributed useful knocks but Musa (4-67) and Arshad (3-51) chipped away to ensure things were not easy for India.

A KNIGHT RIDER

Gill, who has played first-class cricket for Punjab and was recently picked by Kolkata Knight Riders to play in the Indian Premier League, took the mantle on himself with an authoritative century. Gill played along the ground for the first part of his 94-ball innings but was not afraid to loft the ball later, even though all his seven boundary hits were fours. Pakistan were never in the chase as Bengal pacer Porel removed openers Zaid Alam (7) and Imran Shah (2) in successive overs and grabbed the prized wicket of Ali Zaryab to reduce Pakistan to 20 for three. Rohail Nazir’s score of 18 was the highest score in the innings.