On This Day - February 4, 2020: India Colts Give Pakistan A Thrashing in Under-19 World Cup

It was the big semi-final between India Under-19 and Pakistan Under-19 in the ICC Under-19 World Cup in Potchefstroom in South Africa. There was tension in the air, in the stadium and amongst fans in the sub-continent.

Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first. Sushant Mishra gave India the first breakthrough seeing the back of Mohammad Huraira in the second over. Yashasvi Jaiswal, the talented opening batsman and occasional leg-break bowler broke a potentially dangerous stand for the third wicket dismissing Haider Ali for 56 with the team score at 96 in the 26th over.

That opened the floodgates for Pakistan and wickets started to tumble from both ends. Rohail Nazir, the wicketkeeper-captain, made a valiant 62 off 102 balls but there was no support from the other end. As many as 7 Pakistani batsmen were dismissed for single-digit scores as the team collapsed to 172 all out in the 44th over.

Mishra was the pick of the Indian bowlers returning with 3-28 in 8.1 overs. Ravi Bishnoi and Kartik Tyagi chipped in with two wickets each.

The Indian openers, Jaiswal and Divyaansh Saxena were solid for the first 10 overs making sure India did not lose wickets with the new ball. India moved to 33 without loss after the first powerplay. They pressed on the accelerator with Saxena unbeaten on 40 off 62 deliveries and Jaiswal on 39 off 58 deliveries taking India to 86 without any damage after 20 overs.

Jaiswal then showed his class and notched up a gear or two. He displayed his entire repertoire of strokes smashing the Pakistani bowlers for a flurry of fours and sixes. He recorded a famous win for India with a majestic six over deep mid-wicket which also brought up his hundred. Jaiswal remained unbeaten on 105 off 113 deliveries and smashed 8 fours and 4 sixes. Saxena played the anchor and was undefeated on a matured 59 off 99 deliveries. India raced to the target in just the 36th over and gave their arch-rivals a ten-wicket thrashing!

More significantly, they had moved to the final of the Under-19 World Cup.

Jaiswal was the best batsman of the tournament and ended as the highest scorer with 400 runs in just 6 matches at a strike rate of 82.47. He registered one century and 4 fifties and was phenomenally consistent throughout the tournament.

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