India’s Under-19 team on Wednesday (February 2) booked their place in the final of the ICC Men’s U-19 World Cup 2022 with a thumping 96-run victory over Australia in the second semi-final at Antigua.
Opting to bat first, the Boys in Blue rode on skipper Yash Dhull’s run-a-ball 110 and vice-captain Shaik Rasheed’s 108-ball 94 to post 290/5 in their allotted 50 overs.
At one stage, India U-19 were struggling at 37/2 but the duo of Dhull and Rasheed turned things around with a 204-run partnership for the third wicket. In the end, wicketkeeper batter Dinesh Bana’s cameo (20* off 4 balls) put the team in a commanding position.
Defending the total, India U-19 bundled out the Aussie boys for 194 in 41.5 overs. Lachlan Shaw was the top scorer with 51 in what was a shambolic batting display by the Australian U-19 team.
For India U-19, Vicky Ostwal (3-42), Nishant Sindhu (2-25) and Ravi Kumar (2-37) starred with the ball, sharing seven wickets among themselves.
With this victory, Dhull and company qualified for the U-19 World Cup final, where they will take on England on Saturday (February 5).
For their clinical display in the knockout game, India’s U-19 side received rich praise from the Indian cricket fraternity on Twitter.
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