U19 World Cup: Australia to face South Africa in semis

Hosts down Bangladesh; Proteas beat England in quarter-finals.

KARACHI: Defending champions Australia booked their place in the semi-final of the ICC U19 World Cup after registering a hard-fought five-wicket win over Bangladesh.

The defending champions will face South Africa, who prevailed over England by 103 runs, in the last-four encounter.

In the quarter-final, Australia bundled out Bangladesh for a paltry 171 in 43 overs with Travis Head claiming three wickets. In reply, the hosts overcame a shaky start to overhaul the target with 25 balls to spare with captain William Bosisto (71) and Head (44) leading the way.

In the other last-eight fixture, Prenelan Subrayen grabbed a four-wicket haul to help South Africa thrash England.

Defending a total of 244, the Proteas bowled out their opponents for just 141 in 40.3 overs, courtesy Subrayen who finished with four for 24.

Earlier, Murray Coetzee (67) and TB de Bruyn (54) struck half-centuries to spur South Africa to their reasonable total. In other matches, Afghanistan overcame Papua New Guinea by four wickets, while Scotland outclassed Zimbabwe by 41 runs in the 9th place play-off quarter-finals.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 20^th, 2012.