His 6 for 24 against Pakistan is the highest bowling performance in a semi-final or final of an U-19 World Cup.
ESPNcricinfo Staff
Fast bowler Tom Straker led to a 24-6 victory over Pakistan in the second semi-final match as Australia won a close match and booked a place in the final against India in the 2024 U-19 World Cup. did.
Straker, who had missed the previous match* and replaced Charlie Anderson in the semi-final, took two wickets in his first spell, then returned to clean up the tail end and level Pakistan for 179. Did. In the 2014 semi-final against Australia, he surpassed Kagiso Rabada's six hits in 25 at bats, and was active as a bowler in the semi-finals and finals of the U-19 World Cup.
“Charlie Anderson is obviously a quality fast bowler and it's really hard to walk away from him,” Australian captain Hugh Wavegen said. “Tom Straker, on the other hand, bowled incredibly well today. Yeah, I thought he was great.”
After a strong start, Australia appeared to be on track to chase the total. But Pakistan's bowlers had other plans. Ali Raza removed Sam Constas to end a 33-point opening stand and soon Australia were 59-4. Harry Dixon and Oliver Peake crossed the 100 mark before Arafat Minhas removed Dixon and Tom Campbell to cause another collapse. The chase then became tense as Raza added three more scalps. At that point, Australia needed him 16 of 24 balls with one wicket left.
Unlike their thrilling victory against Bangladesh earlier in the tournament, Pakistan could not get over the line this time and a composed Ruff McMillan and Callum Vidler sealed the win for Australia with five balls remaining.
“We fought hard,” Wibgen said. “Every time you thought you were close to reaching the top, you lost a wicket but you kept fighting. Those partnerships, some contributions in the midfield. At 17 years old, Oli Peake has made incredible progress. Everyone contributed really well.
”[I was] Never doubt. I trusted Vids completely. [Vidler] And Raph finishes the job. To be honest, I have a lot of emotions. I was quite nervous. I still don't know what happened, but it was really cool. ”
Pakistan captain Saad Baig acknowledged the efforts of the bowlers in the tournament and said losses were “part of the game”. Fast bowler Ubaid Shah was the second highest wicket-taker in the tournament before the final, taking 18 wickets in six matches.
“I think we were 10 to 20 points short, but we gave 100 percent,” Baig said. “We played well and fought well, but Australia played very well. Our players were great throughout the tournament.” [and] Our bowling was pretty good in the tournament. ”
*February 9, 2024 0900GMT A previous version stated that Straker had missed the three games leading up to the semi-finals. The error has been fixed.