U-19 World Cup Semi Final: India beat Pakistan by 203 runs to enter final

Riding on a powerful century by Shubman Gill, India on Tuesday posted a target of 273 runs against Pakistan in U-19 World Cup semi final match here. Gill, 102 not out, hit 7 boundaries in his 94-ball innings to take India to 272/9. 

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. 

From Pakistan, Muhammad Musa (4/67) and Arshad Iqbal (3/51) were most successful. 

Pakistan was off to a bad start after losing three early wickets for just 20 runs. They are currently at 58/8 in 27.4 overs. 

India have so far been 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 could be a good learning curve for the 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," he said. 

"Irrespective of the result, at least the guys would get to feel what it is to play an India-Pakistan game. Maybe somewhere along the line they will grow up as men and become cricketers who play for India and some of the Pakistani boys will play for Pakistan. They would have then done it before," Dravid added. 

(With ANI inputs)