CHRISTCHURCH – India crushed Pakistan by 203 runs in their Under-19 WorldCup semi-final in Christchurch on Tuesday to set up a tournament decideragainst Australia.
An unbeaten century from Shubman Gill helped India set a competitive totalof 272, which Pakistan never looked like reaching as they were skittled for69 with more than 20 overs remaining.
Ishan Porel was India’s hero with the ball, taking four for 17 in a matchthe tournament favorites utterly dominated.
“It was a good performance from everyone… we did a really good job,”captain Prithvi Shaw said.
It was the Pakistan youth team’s third-lowest total on record, underliningthe batting woes of a team that failed to score more than 200 during thetournament in New Zealand.
Poor fielding also undermined Pakistan’s chances as they squandered sevenrun-out chances.
“Unfortunately our batsmen didn’t really perform and nothing really workedout from the start,” Pakistan skipper Hassan Khan said.
“We missed a couple of chances and things didn’t really go our way.”
The result sees India square off against fellow heavyweight Australia inSaturday’s final in Tauranga.
Both sides have won the tournament three times, with India winning its lasttitle in 2012 when they defeated Australia in the final.
India are unbeaten in New Zealand, with five convincing wins from fivematches, including a 100-run win over Australia in the group stages.
Australia also looked vulnerable in their quarter-final against Englandbefore a record-breaking eight-wicket spell from leg-spinner Lloyd Popeturned the match.
Against Pakistan, the Indians won the toss and elected to bat first, withopeners Shaw and Manjot Kalra scoring at better than a run a ball in theearly overs.
Pakistan’s vaunted pace attack, which fired them into the final four,failed to make inroads as fielding errors saw Kalra dropped twice.
The 89-run opening partnership was finally broken when Shaw was run out for41, with the TV umpire ruling he failed to ground his bat properly whilediving for safety.
Kalra departed on 47 but India still appeared set for a big total untilpaceman Arshad Iqbal slowed their momentum with three wickets in as manyovers.
Muhammad Musa helped mop up the tail, ending with figures of four for 67but Gill continued his rich vein of form at the tournament to ensureIndia’s total was competitive.
He steadied the middle order and brought up his 93-ball century in thefinal over, finishing on 102 not out.
Pakistan made a disastrous start, slumping to 28 for four as Porel torethrough their top order. Shaw led the way in the field with twosharply-taken catches.
Only three Pakistan batsman reached double figures, with Rohail Nazirtop-scoring on 18 in a one-sided contest.