U-19 World Cup Semi Final: Dravid's boys thrash Pakistan to set up final clash with Australia

Riding on a powerful performance by centurian Shubman Gill, India on Tuesday thrashed arch-rival Pakistan by 203 runs in Under-19 World Cup Semi Final to set up a final clash against Australia. India bundled out Pakistan for just 69 after setting a target of 273 runs. Gill, 102 not out, hit 7 boundaries in his 94-ball innings as Rahul Dravid's boys took the scoreboard to 272/9 at the end of 50 overs.

Openers - skipper Prithvi Shaw (41) and Manjot Kalra (47) - gave solid start after the men in blue won the toss and elected to bat first at Hagley Oval in Christchurch. Both had shared a partnership of 89 runs before the skipper was run out for 41.

After a brief stability, the men in blue again suffered a mini-collapse in the middle overs, when Harvik Desai, Riyan Parag and Abhishek Sharma departed in quick succession, leaving the team tottering at 166/5.

However, Gill, along with lower-order batsmen, brought the team back on track and India finally summed up the inning at 272/9.

While India's top order did well, the middle and lower order was destroyed by pair of Muhammad Musa (4/67) and Arshad Iqbal (3/51).

Pakistan was off to a bad start after losing three early wickets for just 20 runs. Ishan Porel destroyed the top order of Pakistani batting and claimed the first four wickets. Shiva Singh, Riyan Parag, Anukul Roy and Abhishek Sharma shared among themselves the rest of the wickets. 

For Pakistan, wicketkeeper-batsman Rohail Nazir remained the top scorer with only two other batsmen - Saad Khan and Muhammad Musa - crossing the two-digit mark.

India have remained unbeaten in the tournament, while Pakistan's only defeat came in their opening match against Afghanistan.

Earlier, India coach Rahul Dravid had said a match against Pakistan would be a good learning curve for the young players.

"It's exciting to play an India-Pakistan game because under-19 cricket is all about experiences, about giving them different learning environs. The last couple of years we haven't had a chance to play Pakistan at any level, so it's really nice that it has panned out the way it has," Dravid said.  

(With ANI inputs)