India to face Pakistan in U-19 World Cup semi-finals after crushing win over Bangladesh

Shubham Gill’s third consecutive half century and a quick-fire half-century from Abhishek Sharma proved enough for India to continue their march in the U-19 Cricket World Cup, as the former champions defeated Bangladesh by 131 runs to move into the semi-finals.

Prithvi Shaw’s boys were expected to face their first real test of the competition against their eastern neighbours on a two-paced Queenstown wicket, but Bangladesh could hardly create any pressure on the pre-tournament favourites either with the bat or ball.

Having set Bangladesh a target of 266, India bowled them out for a paltry 134 to set up a last-four clash against arch-rivals Pakistan. Afghanistan will take on Australia in the other semi-final.

Strong start

Opting to bat first, India looked primed to touch the 300-run mark as in-form skipper Prithvi Shaw (40) and Gill (86) once again showed why they are so highly rated.

The former champions had lost opener Manjot Kalra rather early but the pair looked undeterred by the two-paced wicket at Queenstown as they added a second wicket stand of 86 runs. While Shaw was cautious, Gill took the attack to the opposition bowlers and employed his short-arm pull to great effect.

But just when it looked like Shaw was joining the party with a couple of delectable boundaries, he was foxed by left-arm seamer Qazi Onik’s cutter, which took a slight edge of his bat before crashing into his off stump.

Gill, however, continued to dominate the Bangladesh bowling with wicket-keeper Harvik Desai (34) giving him company at the other end. Gill completed his third half century of the tournament as the duo added 74 runs for the third wicket but it was clear that scoring against slow bowlers was getting difficult.

The partnership was broken when Desai chopped Nayeem Hasan’s delivery on to his stumps, and then, Gill edged one to wicket keeper Mahidul Islam Ankon off the same bowler two overs later to give Bangladesh hopes of restricting India to under 250.

And had it not for Abhishek Sharma’s timely half-cenutry, India would have definitely struggled to reach 265. The left-handed batsman paced his innings well, running well between the wickets and using the straight bat to find the boundaries to ease the pressure of scoring.

He reached his 50 with a tap to short cover off Hasan Mahmud but was out the very next ball he faced trying to hook the same bowler.

There was little support for Sharma from the other end with only Riyan Parag (15) reaching double figures. He also hit the only six of the innings but did not stay long enough to make his start count.

India were ultimately bowled out with four balls to spare as they added 69 runs in the last 10 overs, losing six wickets in the bargain.

Onik, who braved ankle pain to complete his quota of 10 overs, finished with figures of 3/48 while spinners Hasan and Saif Hassan chipped in with two wickets each.

Disciplined effort

Bangladesh clearly needed an aggressive start since it was clear that the slower bowlers were always going to be difficult to score off.

India’s new ball bowlers, Shivam Mavi and Ishan Porel, hardly gave them an inch. They stuck to the outside the off-stump line and gave away just 28 runs in the first power-play, thereby building the pressure for the slow bowlers to exploit.

Bangladesh opener Pinak Ghosh was given a lifeline by Shiva Singh when he was on three but the left-hander could hardly make any impression during his 75-ball stay at the wicket, in which he managed to score 43 runs and then succumbed while trying to push the scoring rate.

Nothing seemed to go right for Bangladesh as Towhid Hridoy (9) and Aminul Islam (3) were run-out in quick succession to reduce them to 85/5 at the half way stage.

It was always going to be an uphill task from there on and India nipped any chances of a fight back in the bud with wickets at regular intervals with Mavi, Sharma claiming two wickets apiece while Kamlesh Nagarkoti chipping in with three.