DUBAI: The lineup for semi-final of ICC-Under 19 World Cup being played in United Arab Emirates (UAE) is completed as South Africa U-19 beats Afghanistan U-19 and Australia U-19 thrashed West Indies U-19 on Sunday, ARY News reported.
In the first semifinal that was played between Australia and West Indies, WI winning the toss decided to bat first and were in deep trouble at 70 for 8, Australia Under-19s looked like wrapping up West Indies Under-19s for a sub-100 total, until they ran into Nicolas Pooran, who played the innings of the tournament to lift his team to 208.
Pooran single handedly dominated Australian U-19 scoring 143 but no other batsmen made useful contribution with the bat.
Australia with their controlled batting chased the target in the 47th over at the loss of 5 wickets.
Both the Australian openers Matthew Short and Jaron Morgan scored fifties to build a strong foundation of 107 runs. While Jake Doran with his unbeaten knock of 49 runs bring Australia home.
Furthermore, in the other semifinal that South Africa U-19 defeated Afghanistan U-19 in a one sided contest by 9 wickets.
Afghanistan, batting first, began slowly as Kagiso Rabada removed the opener Mohammad Mujtaba for a duck in the third over, but Usman Ghani(36) and Ihsanullah(30) counterattacked with a quick 46-run stand.
However, wickets at regular intervals from Justin Dill and Yaseen Valli stalled Afghanistan's slow progress.
The Afghanistan captain Nasir Jamal top-scored with 61, it allowed his team to set 197 on board.
Dill eventually finished with four scalps to take his tally in the tournament to 10, the joint second-highest, while Rabada and Valli shared four dismissals between them to restrict Afghanistan to 197.
South African captain Aiden Markram powered South Africa Under-19s into the semi-finals of the Under-19 World Cup with his unbeaten century.
He scored 105 runs while Clyde Fortuin played well for a run-a-ball 32 during the chase.
After the dismissal of Fortuin, number 3rd Kirwin Christoffels played a wonderful knock of 56 runs combined for an unbroken second-wicket stand which yielded 158 runs with the skipper.
The first semi-final will played between Pakistan U-19 and England U-19 on Monday (February 24) at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. While South Africa will play Australia Under-19s in the second semi-final in Dubai on Wednesday(February 26).
