U-19 World Cup: India Under-19 team will take on Australian Under-19 in the all-important Super League semi-final of the 2022 ICC Under-19 World Cup on Wednesday, 2nd February at the Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua. Follow InsideSport.IN for more updates.
U-19 World Cup: Unbeaten India face Australia in the semifinals – Follow LIVE updates
Key players from both the sides were affected by the Covid-19 earlier in the tournament. For India, skipper Yash Dhull, his deputy Shaikh Rasheed and three others missed two league matches as they had to be in isolation and they recovered in time before the quarter-finals. However, Nishant Sindhu, who led India in the absence of Dhull had to go into isolation before the quarter-finals. Now good news for India is that all the players have recovered and will be available for selection in the semi-finals.
🙅♂️ Defending champions denied
👊 India on a quest for title number five
☘ Ireland make strong Plate claimsAll the talking points from a big #U19CWC day!https://t.co/xnDyInhXZr
— ICC (@ICC) January 30, 2022
Similarly, four Australian players contracted the virus and had to miss their matches. Ambidextrous spinner Nivethan Radhakrishnan and middle-order batter Isaac Higgins missed the quarter-finals and Australia hope they recover in time before the semis.
India is a team that is yet to remain undefeated in the tournament. In the batting department, 16-year old Angkrish Raghuvanshi is in a stellar form, scoring 272 runs in 4 matches at an average of 68. He is currently the fourth-highest run scorer in the tournament. Apart from Raghuvanshi, the team has had contributions from opener Harnoor Singh, all-rounder Raj Bawa, who scored a record 162 and skipper Yash Dhull.
India’s bowlers have been the stars as they have never allowed any team to score more than 200 runs against them in the tournament so far. In the four matches so far, Indian bowlers have taken all the 40 wickets with every bowler having picked up crucial wickets. In the group stage, they bowled out South Africa out for 187, Uganda for 97 and Ireland for 133. In the quarterfinals defending champs Bangladesh were bundled out for 111.
A left-arm pacer’s dream dismissal 🤩
Ravi Kumar’s peach of an inswinger has been voted the @Nissan #POTD winner from India’s quarter-final victory over Bangladesh in the #U19CWC 🎥 pic.twitter.com/1zynYy20p9
— ICC (@ICC) January 30, 2022
Right arm pacer Rajvardhan Hangargekar and left-arm seamer Ravi Kumar trouble the batsman with the new ball. They have picked up wickets in the powerplay itself, in their first spell and Australian openers will need to be cautious against these two pacers. Pacer Raj Bawa too has impressed in the tournament so far. He picked up a four-wicket haul in the first game while he remained economical in the other three matches, restricting the run-flow.
Among the spinners, Vicky Ostwal has been the pick of the bowlers as he leads the wicket-takers chart among the Indians by picking up nine wickets. The left-arm seamer took a fifer in the very first game of the tournament and continued to challenge the batsmen, making it difficult to score runs against him. Then comes the part-timers like Aneeshwar Gautam, Nishant Sindhu and Kaushal Tambe, who have all been very effective in the middle overs. It will be a big challenge for the Australian batsman against this strong bowling line-up.
A comprehensive victory for Australia!
They are now into the semi-finals of the Super League stage with a 119-run win over Pakistan 🌟#PAKvAUS | #U19CWC pic.twitter.com/c5fnjVhoAZ
— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) January 28, 2022
For Australia, 17-year old batsman Teague Wyllie is having a great tournament as he has scored a century and two fifties in the four matches that he has played and is the highest-run scorer for Australia. Apart from Wyllie, left hand batsman Campbell Kellaway is averaging 52. Both these players will have to continue their form. Australian captain Cooper Connoly too is an able batsman but is yet to fire in this tournament. He scored a century against India in the warm-up game and will look to do well against the same opponents in the important clash.
Also Read: IND vs AUS LIVE, U-19 World Cup: Five players to watch out for semi finals clash- check out
Among the bowlers, pace bowler Tom Whitney has been effective, having picked up seven wickets in the last three matches. Nivethan Radhakrishnan who missed the last two games has picked up four wickets in two matches and Australian will need him to challenge the Indian batsmen. Australian batters can play against pace but they have struggled so far with spin. Sri Lanka’s Dimuth Wellalage picked up a fifer against them and Yash Dhull will look to attack them by making spinners bowl more overs against them.
Both these teams played a warm-up game and despite a century from the Australian skipper Cooper Connoly, none of the other batters managed to score well as pacer Ravi Kumar rattled the batting order, picking up four wickets. India once again enters the contest as favourites but Australia can never back off without putting up a strong fight.
U-19 World Cup: Unbeaten India face Australia in the semifinals – Follow LIVE updates
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