Junior Proteas come up short as India march into cup final
IT was not meant to be for South Africa as they crashed out of the ongoing Under-19 World Cup at the hands of defending champions India in the first semi-final at Willowmoore Park in Benoni yesterday.
Despite missing out on a home final, there were extraordinary performances from the Junior Proteas in going down by two wickets.
Once again, Kwena Maphaka unleashed thunderbolts from the word go and dismissed opening batter Adarsh Singh with his very first ball with a scary bumper.
It was the start that the home side needed, having posted a modest 244-7 earlier in the day.
Singh received a well-directed bouncer that he was forced to evade, offering up his bat in the process. The ball kissed the shoulder of the willow on its way to Lhuan-dre Pretorius’s gloves behind the stumps to hand South Africa the perfect start.
Right-arm quick Tristan Luus also came to the party yesterday and finally gave the support that a bowler of Maphaka’s calibre needs from a newball partner.
Following Singh wicket, Luus struck twice to leave India reeling on 26-3 in the first 10 overs.
By the end of 12th over, Luus had taken his third scalp, putting South Africa in a commanding position with India on 32-4.
However, in the middle overs, when Maphaka and Luus were rested after their brilliant new-ball spells, the pair of Uday Saharan, who scored 81 runs off 124 balls, with six fours, and Sachin Dhas, whose 96 runs came off 95 balls and included 11 fours and one six, took the game away from the hosts.
“We had them four down for 30-odd, then Uday (Saharan) and Sachin (Dhas) batted really well there,” SA captain Juan James said, when asked how and when he felt they had lost the game.
“It’s something we struggled with the whole tournament. We just didn’t quite manage to get it right.
“However, I think it probably started in the middle overs when we were batting ... I think they bowled really well. It’s probably those two moments (where we lost the game).”
The Junior Proteas needed a miracle to break the Saharan-Dhas partnership, and they called on the leading wicket taker in U19 World Cup history, Maphaka, to get the job done.
The left-arm quick broke the Saharan-Dhas partnership with the first ball of his second spell as he lured the batter into an early stroke, only to balloon the ball to David Teeger at cover and reignite the hopes of the country.
Maphaka then accounted for lower-order batter Aravelly Avanish (10) with the last ball of his 10-over spell to leave India 20 runs short of the target with three overs remaining.
At that point, South Africa needed four wickets to win, but India captain Saharan stood in their way.
Despite claiming two more wickets, including that of Saharan, South Africa went on to lose the nail-biter by two wickets with seven balls remaining.
“The thing that stands out the most for me is the never giving up from us,” said James. “Even at the end … fighting to the very end. That’s something that makes me really proud as a captain, seeing everyone fight like that. That’s probably the one thing that stands out the most for me.
“I just want to thank everyone for coming out in every single game.
“The support has been amazing. We hope we made the country proud.”
Earlier, Pretorius, who scored 76 runs off 102 balls, with six fours and three sixes, and Richard Seletswane, who scored 64 runs off 100 balls, with four fours and two sixes, were key to South Africa reaching a decent 244-7 in their allotted 50 overs.
Indian fast bowler Raj Limbani, who took three wickets for 60 runs in nine overs, and spinner Musheer Khan (2-43 in 10 overs) were the pick of the visitors’ bowlers.