Time to conclude our coverage from the last Super Six fixture of the ICC Men's Under-19 World Cup 2026 between India U-19 and Pakistan U-19. When India posted 252, Pakistan had to chase it down within 33.3 overs to qualify but they didn't show the intent and went to just win the match. Indian spinners did well to topple them and bowl them out for 194 and India won the gamy by 58 runs.
Now it is time for the semi-finals. We have a gap of one day tomorrow and from Tuesday, the fight to reach the summit clash will start. Australia will compete against England in the first semi-final and India will be up against Afghanistan in the second.
For now, this is Saptak Sanyal signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Deepak Prakash and the scorer/analyst of this match Yogesh Kumar. Good night.
Semi-final Fixtures of ICC Under-19 Men's World Cup 2026:
Semi-final 1: Australia U-19 vs England U-19 (Bulawayo, 3rd February, 2026)
Semi-final 2: India U-19 vs Afghanistan U-19 (Harare, 4th February, 2026)
Ayush Mhatre (India U-19 Captain):"It was a good start from Vaibhav and Aaron but there was some help for the bowlers. It was spinning. The way KC (Kanishk Chouhan) batted was brilliant. He was batting really well in the net. Me and my team were confident that he will score the runs.
The boys did really good contributions. Bowlers also did well. The Pakistani batters batted really well in the first 25 overs but then the ball spun and our bowlers did a fine job.
We are just looking match by match. Not looking at final and trophy right now. Just want to win the semi-final and go to the final."
Farhan Yousaf (Pakistan U-19 Captain):"Yes in the start we bowled very well and got three wickets early on. But the plan changed and slightly wayward bowling cost us. Set batters were playing in and we had to bring in one fielder extra and that became a factor. I am proud of my boys for the effort. We will try to do better in the future.
The first priority was to win and qualify for the semi-final. But when a few wickets fell, we tried to win the match. We changed the plan. The wicket was tough in the second innings. The result doesn't matter. I am proud of my boys, specially the fielding unit and bowling unit."
Kanishk Chouhan (Player of the Match):"When I came to bat my partner said that I can take time as wicket was not very good for batting. The longer I played it become easier. The idea was to take the singles and rotate the strike.
When bowling, the wicket was normal but it was breaking. I just used that. The way we have been playing, it will give us the confidence ahead of the semi-final. It feels good when the entire team supports you."
Player of the Match: Kanishk Chouhan
8:46 PM IST and 5:16 PM Local Time: India U-19 continue their unbeaten run in this U-19 World Cup and have become the fourth team to qualify for the semi-final. They posted 252 runs batting first and have bowled out Pakistan for 194 and bagged the game by 58 runs.
Pakistan U-19 won the toss and sent India to bat first. India got off to a flyer as Vaibhav Suryavanshi hit 5 fours and a maximum in his 22-ball stay to score 30 runs. Aaron George was giving him the company in their 47-run opening stand. The rhythm got shattered as Pakistan made a grand comeback and removed both the Indian openers and the skipper Ayush Mhatre for a silver duck.
Vihaan Malhotra and Vedant Trivedi then decided to rebuild the innings. They didn't do anything funky and rotated the strike. Vihaan scored 21 off 43 balls but the partnership between him and Vedant of 62 runs helped India immensely. Vedant didn't stop after that. He took the innings forward with some support from Abhigyan Kundu (16) and RS Ambrish (29).
The game changers of Indian innings were Kanishk Chouhan and Khilan Patel. As Pakistan were slow in over rate, they had to bring an extra fielder inside the circle in the next 5 overs. They took a fine advantage of it and added 50 runs from 6 overs. Kanishk scored 35 off 29 balls and Khilan scored 21 off 15 balls to help India post 252 from their 50 overs.
For Pakistan, Abdul Subhan finished with 3/33. Mohammad Sayyam took two wickets. The rest of the bowlers took a wicket each.
Pakistan had to chase the 252 runs in 33.3 overs to qualify. They took 18 runs from the first two overs but as Henil Patel got the better of Sameer Minhas, Pakistan started playing only for the win.
Huzaifa Zahoor and Usman Khan took the innings forward after that and they together added 65 runs for the second wicket. Kanishk Chouhan removed Zahoor for 42 and then they became slow again. Farhan Yousaf tried to increase the scoring rate with his 38 off 39 balls but after his dismissal, Pakistan gave up completely. India bowled a lot of overs with their off spinners and the idea paid off.
Ayush Mhatre brought himself in. He brought Vihaan Malhotra in the attack and together operated after the 30th over. Mhatre took the important wicket of well set Usman Khan for 65 and then took another two wickets of Ahmed Hussain and Momin Qamar. Khilan Patel took care of the right handers and ended the innings by clipping the off stump of Huzaifa Ahsan. He took the wickets of Mohammad Sayyam too. Vihaan Malhotra got the wicket of Ali Hassan Baloch and Pakistan got bundled out for 194.
Indian spinners stepped up for them. Ayush Mhatre and Khilan Patel took 3 wickets each. RS Ambrish, Henil Patel, Kanishk Chouhan and Vihaan Malhotra took a wicket each.