Four-time champions India stormed into the final of the ICC Under-19 World Cup final after decimating Pakistan in the last-four stage
Potchefstroom (South Africa): India demolished Pakistan by 10 wickets to enter the ICC Under-19 World Cup final for the third time in a row.
Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (pictured above) struck an outstanding 105 (8x4, 4x6) off 113 balls and shared in a stand of 176 with Divyaansh Saxena (59 off 99 balls, 6x4) as they cruised to their 173-run target with 88 balls to spare in the semi-final in Potchefstroom on Tuesday (February 4).
Also read: India beat Australia to enter semi-finals
It was Jaiswal’s maiden century of the competition that took him top of the run-scoring charts, while his partnership with Saxena smashed the previous semi-final best of 152.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Divyaansh Saxena's average opening partnership during the 2020 is 196 🤯
They just love batting together 🤝 pic.twitter.com/J652o3wgY2
“It is a dream come true for me and I’m very happy to have done it for my country,” said Jaiswal.
“Words cannot fully describe how I feel. It’s amazing and I will never forget the moment in my life that I scored a century against Pakistan in a World Cup semi-final.”
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The five-time champions came to South Africa highly fancied to defend their title and further justified that tag with an emphatic Super League semi-final success.
For his unbeaten 105* with the bat, Yashasvi Jaiswal is today's Shotmaker! | | pic.twitter.com/RzWXNaNiLE
— ICC (@ICC)After winning the toss and batting, Pakistan slipped to 34/2 before Rohail Nazir (62 off 102 balls) and Haider Ali (56 off 77 balls) rebuilt nicely with a stand worth 62.
But it went horribly wrong from there as Sushant Mishra (3/28) struck three times amidst tight bowling from the other end that destroyed the rest of the Pakistani line-up in 43.1 overs.
Yashasvi Jaiswal receives his Man-of-the-match award from former Australian all-rounder Tom Moody
It was then over to Jaiswal and Saxena – the pair dominant on their way to gunning down the target in 35.2 overs.
Now Paras Mhambrey’s men will take on the winner of Thursday’s (February 6) semi-final clash between New Zealand and Bangladesh in the final for the right to be crowned U-19 world champions once again.
India Under 19s beat Pakistan Under 19s by 10 wickets, JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom
Pakistan 172 all out in 43.1 overs (Rohail Nazir 62, Haider Ali 56; Sushant Mishra 3/28, Ravi Bishnoi 2/46) lost to India 176/0 in 35.2 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 105 not out, Divyansh Saxena 59 not out)
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