Three-time Under-19 World Cup winner Australia stunned Pakistan in the semifinal with a thrilling one-wicket win to book their berth in the final against India. This is the sixth time Australia has advanced to the final in the tournament's history. They will be up against Uday Saharan-led side which has enjoyed an unbeaten run in the tournament so far. After five dominating wins, India were tested by South Africa. Despite a batting collapse, Saharan and Sachin Dhas helped India register a two-wicket win and qualify for their fifth consecutive final.
The two giants of world cricket will lock horns for the title at Willowmoore Park, Benoni on February 11 starting at 1:30 PM IST.
Before the clash here’s what happened on the last two occasions when India met Australia in the Under-19 World Cup final.
Chand shines in run chase
Skipper Unmukt Chand won the toss and opted to field first. Sandeep Sharma got rid of the openers early on. Australia lost four wickets for just 38 runs in 12 overs. Skipper William Bosisto led Australia's fightback with an unbeaten 87. He had support from Travis Head (37) and Ashton Turner (43). Australia posted 225/8 despite Sandeep's four-wicket haul.
In the run chase, India lost their opener Prashant Chopra early for a seven-ball duck to Mark Steketee. Chand led the charge and anchored the innings despite Baba Aparajith, Hanuma Vihari, and Vijay Zol falling at the other end. He found the perfect partner in Smit Patel. The two batters shared an unbeaten 129-run partnership for the fifth wicket to lead India to a six-wicket win in the final. While the wicketkeeper-batter Patel scored 62 runs from 84 balls, Chand remained unbeaten for 111 from 130 balls.
Big names fall but Kalra takes India home
The two sides met each other again in the 2018 edition of the tournament. Indian bowlers hunted in packs and bowled out Australia for 216 in 47.2 overs. Middle-order batter Jonathan Merlo showed some fight with a 76-run knock.
In the run chase, India lost the wickets of skipper Prithvi Shaw (29) and Shubman Gill (31) after they got good starts. But opener Manjot Kalra held on to one end and made run chase easy with an unbeaten 89-run partnership for the third wicket with wicketkeeper-batter Harvi Desai. Kalra scored 101 runs from 102 balls. Desai contributed with 47 runs from 61 balls as India chased down the target with 67 balls to spare.
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