U19 Cricket: India Beat New Zealand by 9 Runs, Enter World Cup Final

Townsville (Australia), Aug 23 (PTI): India beat New Zealand by 9 runs to enter the Under 19 World Cup final at Townsville, Australia. India will play Australia in the final. Brief scores: New Zealand, chasing a target of 210, made 200 for nine in 50 overs after Cam Fletcher top scored with 53.

For India, Sandeep Sharma, Ravikant Singh and Harmeet Singh picked up two wickets each.

Earlier, India's middle-order frittered away the good start provided by the top half as the team posted a disappointing 209 for nine after being put into bat in the semifinal against New Zealand.

Opener Prashant Chopra was the top-scorer for the Indians with a patient 104-ball 52, followed by number three batsman Baba Aparajith who added 44 runs to the total.

Skipper Unmukt Chand also did his bit with 31 runs off 44 deliveries but the rest of the line-up let the team down against a disciplined bowling effort by the New Zealand team.

For the Kiwis, left-arm spinner Ben Horne was the top wicket-taker, picking up three for 23 in six overs, while medium pacer Matthew Quinn managed a couple of scalps.

It was a decent start to the proceedings for the Indians as Unmukt and Prashant put on 51 runs for the first wicket before the former made his way back after becoming medium pacer Connor Neynens' only victim of the match.

Unmukt's knock included five hits to the fence. Next man in, Aparajith took hardly any time to settle down and rotated the strike with ease. Aparajith and Prashant combined to add 81 runs before the latter departed, caught one-handed by Kiwi skipper Will Young at mid on off Ed Nuttall's bowling. Prashant struck five boundaries and a six during his innings. Aparajith departed a couple of overs later, his 61-ball innings ended by Indian-origin spinner Ish Sodhi.

The rest of the Indian line-up failed to make notable contributions as the team were restricted to a disappointing total.