Pakistan to lock horns with Sri Lanka in quarters

U19 World Cup’s knockout last-eight phase begins tomorrow.

Defending champions India and two-time champion Pakistan are heading for a rematch in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2014 when they will feature in the quarter-finals on Saturday.

Vijay Zol’s India will be pitted against 1998 winner England at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, while Sami Aslam’s team will take on Sri Lanka at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

If both sides come out on top, they will feature in the first semi-final to be played on Monday in Dubai.

Pakistan, winners in 2004, suffered a defeat against India in the opener but recovered to beat PNG and Scotland by an identical margin of 145 runs.

In contrast, Sri Lanka opened the tournament with a 49-run victory over New Zealand, held its nerve to beat England by one wicket before romping home by eight wickets against the UAE.

Pakistan’s Imamul Haq is the tournament’s leading run-getter to date with 260 runs, while his fellow opener and captain Sami Aslam is the other prominent scorer with 129.

The two batsmen have provided their side two century opening wicket starts. In bowling, Karamat Ali has bagged seven wickets, while Zafar Gohar has taken six wickets.

On a head-to-head in ICC U19 Cricket World Cup, Pakistan lead Sri Lanka 3-1. The two sides last met in the 2010 event in Lincoln, New Zealand, where Pakistan won by five runs.

Sami, looking ahead to Saturday’s match said, “We lost the first match, but I think it was just a bad day as then we defeated Scotland and PNG by huge margins. So, I think the whole team is raring to go and will enter the quarter-final with a lot of confidence.

“Sri Lanka have been playing well so far. They beat England, New Zealand and UAE. So, I think it will be a good game, and we will try to give our 100%.”

Sri Lanka captain Kusal Mendis said, “We have been practising well and won all our three matches.”

“But Pakistan is a good team and it has a good top-order line-up, including its captain. We got confidence after beating England and New Zealand as both are very good sides.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 22^nd, 2014.

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