ICC U19 World Cup: Pakistan outplay Sri Lanka to reach semis

Defending champions India knocked out by England.

An outstanding opening partnership between skipper Sami Aslam and Imamul Haq helped Pakistan reach the semi-finals of the ICC U19 World Cup.

The two teams contested the match at the Sharjah Cricket Ground, batting first former champions Pakistan posted a score of 279 for the loss of nine wickets.

Aslam fell for 95 while Imam, who is the leading scorer in the tournament contributed 82 runs. The two added 177 runs for the first wicket.

The pair was at the crease for almost 37 overs, in the last 13 overs the remaining batsmen went for big runs. The boys in green added 102 runs to end with a good total.

Sri Lanka struggled from the outset in their chase, left-arm pacer Ziaul Haq took two wickets at the top of the innings.  Priyamal Perera offered resistance with a 68 run knock; his innings was studded with seven fours and a solitary six.

Sadeera Samarawickrama, who opened the innings made the other significant contribution for the Islanders scoring 51 runs.

Sri Lanka failed to come even close to the target as wickets kept falling at regular intervals, Zia, Karamat Ali, Zafar Gohar and Kamran Ghulam all claimed two wickets each.

The Lankans fell for 158 runs in the 43rd over of their innings to hand Pakistan a commanding 121 run win.

England knock India out

In the second quarter-final of the day, the defending champions India were sent packing by England. The match was played at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Batting first, India recovered from 24 for four to post a score of 221 for eight in the allotted 50 overs.  Deepak Hooda, Sarfaraz Khan and captain Vijay Zol made valuable contributions. Hooda scored 68 while Sarfaraz fell for 52; Zol scored 48 off 85. Matthew Fisher took three wickets for the English team, the chase also got off to a poor start for England and the first three batsmen fell with the score at 41.

Ben Duckett and Joe Clarke ensured a win for their team with resolute batting performances; Duckett scored 61 while Clarke chipped in with 42 runs. Rob Jones and Rob Sayer combined for an unbroken 23 run partnership as the chase was completed on the first ball of the last over.

Kuldeep Yadav took three wickets in the losing cause for India, as Pakistan and England will now compete in the first semi-final of the tournament.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 23^rd, 2014.

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