India vs South Africa U-19 World Cup | Sachin and Saharan catch up as India advances to final

Powered by superb knocks from captain Uday Saharan and Sachin Das, defending champions India defeated South Africa by two wickets in an exciting match to close out the ICC U19 World Cup here on Tuesday. They advanced to the finals for the fifth time in a row.

Das (96, 95b, 11×4, 1×6) and Saharan (81, 124b, 6×4), who scored 100 each in the previous match against Nepal, made 171 for the fifth wicket as India chased down a target of 245. Scored a run. There are only 7 balls left.

India will face either Australia or Pakistan in the summit clash at this venue on Sunday, aiming for a sixth trophy in the prestigious tournament.

However, India's chase started off like a rubble yard as they lost four wickets for just 32 runs in 12 overs.

South Africa's new bowler Kwena Mapaka shocked India with the first ball of the innings, dismissing Adarsh ​​Singh with a mean delivery, leaving the batsman with no option but to glide past wicketkeeper Luandre Pretorius.

Partner Tristan Roos soon joined in on the wickets of Mushir Khan, Arshin Kulkarni and Priyanshu Moliya, with all three Indian batsmen looking indecisive while hanging their bats outside the off-stumps. .

However, the Indians found a savior in Das and Sahara and they displayed innings of very contrasting nature and tempo.

Das was aggressive despite the situation the team was in, but Saharan was happy to go all the way.

Das's knock was a treatise on playing cross-batter shots when cracking sixes or pulling fours, along with well-placed nudges to the open spots onside.

Saharan, on the other hand, was more traditional but never shied away from delivering exquisite drives and sharp cuts whenever the opportunity presented itself.

Das reached his fifty in 47 balls thanks to pull-off pacer Riley Norton, while Saharan reached his half-century in 88 balls with a cover drive from off-spinner Juan James.

In the process, Saharan also became the highest run-getter in this World Cup, scoring 389 runs.

However, these two youngsters showed great maturity to not waste their start. Pile up the runs to keep the pressure on the hosts directly.

He almost went for his 200th point of the event, but Mafaka, the best wicket-taker in the tournament so far, deceived Das with a slow ball and managed to get David Tiger to scoop him at cover.

However, the breakthrough was delayed a bit as India persisted in trying to get through the line despite Sahara conceding when the scores were tied.

Earlier, the bowlers played a key role in India's victory, restricting 2014 champions South Africa to 244 for seven on a pitch that provided them with immense support.

SA found fight after an early batting with wicketkeepers Luandre Pretorius (76 balls, 102 balls) and Richard Seretswane (64 balls, 100 balls) but their effort left the visitors reeling. was not enough.

Pretorius and Seretswane put on 72 runs for the third wicket, but they took nearly 22 overs to do so.

South Africa's top order was unable to counter Indian pacers Naman Tiwari (1/52) and Raj Limbani (3/60), who found considerable pace, bounce and carry from the Willow Moor track.

Even when Seretswane and Pretorius were rebuilding their SA innings, they were unable to score runs at a fast pace as most of the runs remained below four.

Left-arm spinners Soumi Pandey and Mushir Khan (2/43), along with off-spinner Priyanshu Moriya, hampered the host batsmen's progress in this phase, bowling methodical lines and lengths.

Pretorius, who looked to provide the momentum to smash Moriya at midwicket in the sixth over, left just as an alliance was starting to emerge.

The left-hander, making his third successive fifty in this tournament, tried to cart Mushir at midwicket, but a leaping Murugan Abhishek outmaneuvered him with a stunner to end his stay.

Seretswane, too, could not get on the platform and immediately fell to Tiwari, who ended up in the hands of Moriya who ran in from deep.

James (24 off 19 balls) and Ruth (23 off 12 balls) helped South Africa pile up 81 runs in the final 10 overs, but it wasn't enough to stop the Indians.

score board

South Africa

Luandre Pretorius c Abhishek b Mushir Khan 76 Steve Stoke c Alavery Avanish b Limbani 14 David Tiger b Limbani 0 Richard Seretswane c Moriya b Tiwari 64 Oliver Whitehead c Das b Mushir Khan 22 Dewan Male c Abhishek b Pandey 3 Juan James c Alavery Avani b Limbani 24 Riley Norton not out 7 Tristan Ruth not out 23 Extras (B-1, LB-1, W-9) 11 Total (for 7 wickets in 50 overs) 244 Wicket falls: 1-23, 2-46, 3-118, 4-163, 5-174, 6-214, 7-220.

Bowling: Raj Limbani 9-0-60-3, Naman Tiwari 8-0-52-1, Murugan Abhishek 4-0-14-0, Arshin Kulkarni 2-0-10-0, Saumi Pandey 10-0 -38-1, Mushir Khan has 10 wins, 1 loss, 43 losses, 2 draws, and Priyanshu Moriya has 7 wins, 1 loss, 25 minutes, 0 seconds.

India

Adarsh ​​Singh c Pretorius b Mapaka 0 Arshin Kulkarni c James b Ruth 12 Mushir Khan c James B Ruth 4 Uday Saharanout 81 Priyanshu Maurya c Pretorius b Ruth 5 Sachin Das c Tiger b Mapaka 96 Alavery Avanish c Norton b Mapaka 10 Murugan Abhishek run out 0 Raj Limbani not out 13 Naman Tiwari not out 0 Extras (LB-2, NB-2, W-23) 27 Total (for 8 wickets in 48.5 overs) 248 Fall of Wickets: 1-0, 2-8, 3 -25, 4-32, 5-203, 6-226, 7-227, 8-244.

Bowling: Kwena Mapaka 10-0-32-3, Tristan Ruth 10-1-37-3, Riley Norton 9-0-53-0, Nqobani Mokoena 7.5-0-45-0, Steve Stoke 2-0 -18-0, Juan James is 8-0, 44-0, Oliver Whitehead is 2-0, 17-0.