India defeated Australia in the Under-19 World Cup by 96 runs and secured their place in their fourth consecutive final. India will now face England, who defeated Afghanistan in the other semi-final.
Skipper Yash Dhull gave a glimpse of his rare talent with a superbly paces hundred as India amassed a massive total of 290 runs for the loss of 5 wickets. Yash Dhull became the only third Indian captain (after Virat Kohli and Unmukt Chand) to score a hundred in the World cup.
Dhull struck a sublime 110 in as many balls and shared a 204-run stand with his deputy Shaik Rasheed (94 off 108 balls).
Indian bowlers then joined the party to bowl Australia out for 194 in 41.5 overs. The Australian team looked shaky right from the start even as Ravi Kumar struck in the second over of the match. Australia was unable to recover after that even though there was a small partnership of 67 runs for the second wicket. Lachlan Shaw’s fine 51 came too late in the day for Australia.
Pacers Rajvardhan Hangargekar (0/26) and Ravi Kumar (2/37) were impressive in the first power-play before spinners Nishant Sindhu (2/25), Vicky Ostwal (3/42) and Kaushal Tambe (1/32) dominated the opposition in the middle overs.
Record four-time champions India face England in the final on Saturday and will be aiming to extend their dominance in the competition.
India, the most successful team in tournament history, were hit by COVID-19 at the start of the competition, losing the likes of Dhull and Rasheed for two games but the depth in the squad ensured that they sailed to the knock-outs.
After winning the match, captain Yash Dhull said, “The idea was to bat steadily, not to try too many shots, and to bat past the 40th over. Myself and Rasheed bat well together, we combine well and it showed. Rasheed and me had a good partnership and we had good partnerships lower down as well.”
