India show mettle to reach final
India's youngsters once again proved why they have been tagged as the favourites of the ICC Under-19 World Cup. In the semifinal against Sri Lanka, they held their nerves and despite making a bad start ended up winning the game by a comfortable 97 runs at Mirpur yesterday. On February 14, the three-time champions will be making their fifth appearance in the final.
Having lost their star batsman Rishabh Pant and their skipper Ishan Kishan within the first 10 overs, many had begun sniffing the possibility of an upset. However, a brilliant stand from Sarfaraz Khan and player-of-the-match Anmolpreet Singh and a few lofted hits from Washinton Sundar displayed just how resilient this Indian batting order is.
Having booked a place in the final, India will either face hosts Bangladesh or the West Indies. They will get to know their opponents tomorrow after the two teams clash in the second semifinal in Mirpur.
Batting first, India recovered from a precarious 27 for two to post 267. Anmolpreet scored a responsible 72 while Sarfaraz smacked 59 off 71. The duo put on 96 runs for the second wicket and stabilised their side.
Sri Lanka grabbed six wickets in the final 10 overs, but India still managed to add 89 runs as Armaan Jaffer pushed the score along with a 16-ball 29.
During the chase a nervous Sri Lanka were reduced to 13 for two in 3.2 overs. They further slipped to 42 for three following the loss of skipper and star batsman Charith Asalanka in the 10th over before Kamindu Mendis (39) and Shammu Ashan (38) engineered a brief recovery.
But, once left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar had Mendis caught off a top-edged sweep and Ashan ran himself out, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 170 in 42.4 overs.
“It was a little difficult for me and Pant initially. The wicket wasn't so easy to bat on. However, I thought our batsmen did well later on. To enter the final unbeaten in the tournament shows that we have so far executed our plans well,” said Kishan.
Kishan further said that his side were not worried about who they would face in the final and that they were more eager to focus on their own skills.
Anmolpreet, who led the comeback for the Indians, said that while he did not enjoy missing out on his century, he was happy with his knock.
“When I went to the crease, my only objective was to be there for as long as possible. That was it and the rest worked out well,” he said.
Sri Lanka skipper Charith Asalanka said that he was disappointed to let the game get out of reach after the first few overs.
“The target was not difficult, but we kept losing wickets. No one stayed long enough to take us through,” said Asalanka, who expects either Bangladesh or India to win the trophy.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan qualified for the ninth place play-off final with an eight-wicket win over New Zealand in Cox's Bazar.
And Pakistan beat Nepal by 122 runs in the fifth place play-off semifinal in Fatullah.
SCORES IN BRIEF
INDIA: 267 for 9 (Sarfaraz 59, Anmolpreet 72; Fernando 4-43, Kumara 2-50, Nimesh 2-50)
SRI LANKA: 170 all out in 42.2 overs (Mendis 39, Ashan 38; Dagar 3-21, Avesh 2-41)
Result: India won by 97 runs.
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