Australia Under-19s 181 for 9 (Peake 49, Raza 4-34) beat Pakistan Under-19s179 (Awais 52, Minhas 52) by one wicket
An unbeaten tenth-wicket stand of 17 between Raf MacMillan and Callum Vidler took Australia past Pakistan in a topsy-turvy second semi-final in Benoni to seal a date against India in Sunday’s final for the 2024 Men’s Under-19 World Cup title.
Chasing only 180 after Tom Straker‘s 6 for 24 wrecked Pakistan in the first innings, Australia nearly threw away their advantage with the bat after a few clumsy top-order dismissals brought some parity into the contest. The 15-year-old Ali Raza (4-34) struck thrice late in the day, but the young pair of MacMillan (19*) and Vidler (3*) staved off the challenge posed by the inspired Pakistan bowling attack in the death overs to just about take Australia over the line. The winning runs in the final over were scored off an inside edge that very nearly crashed into the stumps but instead trickled behind for four.
Australia also had opener Harry Dixon and wicketkeeper-batter Oliver Peake to thanks for their contributions with the bat that held their fragile innings together.
More to follow
Source: ESPN Crickinfo