U19 World Cup: All-rounder Kanishk star in Pakistan rout as India reach semis

Young Kanishk Chouhan showed his all-round prowess as India comfortably outclassed arch-rivals Pakistan by 58 runs in a Super Six encounter to qualify for the semifinal of the ICC U-19 World Cup in Bulawayo on Sunday.

India will meet Afghanistan in the semifinal, while England and Australia will play in the other last-four encounter.

It was all-rounder Kanishk, whose quickfire 29-ball 35 and a 50-run stand for the eighth wicket with Khilan Patel (21 not out off 15 balls), that took India U-19 to a decent 252 in 49.5 overs.

For Pakistan to qualify for the semi-finals on account of a better run-rate, they needed to reach 253 in 33.3 overs. However, their batters didn’t seem interested in making a match, managing only 167 for 4 in 33.3 overs before finally getting bowled out for 194 in 46.2 overs.

In the bowling department, Kanishk largely stopped the Pakistan team on its tracks with figures of 1 for 30 in 10 overs, including an astounding 40 dot balls.

With the pitch assisting spinners, left-arm spinner Khilan Patel (3/35 in 9.2 overs) and skipper Ayush Mhatre (3/21 in 8 overs) also choked the run flow throughout the middle overs.

Pakistan’s Asia Cup hero Sameer Minhas was dismissed by Henil Patel’s off-cutter, and the remaining batters displayed a defensive mindset.

"There was a good start but in the middle, the ball was spinning. The way KC (Kanishk's nickname) batted was brilliant. Vedant (Trivedi) was batting well in the nets, so I was confident in him. Boys were contributing. Pakistan batters batted well in the first 25 overs, after that the spinners bowled really well. We are looking match by match. Just want to win the semi-finals," skipper Mhatre said after the match.

Earlier, Kanishk and Khilan added 50 runs in just 5.1 overs to provide a final flourish after Vedant’s patient 68 off 98 balls helped lay a platform.

Put into bat, Vaibhav Suryavanshi (30 off 22 balls) started in his typical attacking fashion but, despite getting a reprieve off left-arm seamer Mohammad Sayyam (2/69), he was dismissed trying a second pull-shot in as many deliveries.

Skipper Ayush Mhatre (0)'s nightmarish run in Youth ODIs continued with a first-ball duck, while Aaron George was beaten by a ripper from lanky Abdul Subhan (3/33), which pitched on middle and moved slightly to dislodge the off-stump.

From 47 for no loss, India were reduced to 47 for 3, after which left-handed Vihaan Malhotra (21) joined Vedant and consolidated the innings with a 62-run stand.

However, none of the top-order batters, including Vedant, could lift the tempo due to the slowness of the track that made shot-making difficult. The right-handed Vedant played 98 balls and hit two fours and a six before a poor shot off a full-toss from left-arm wrist spinner Momin Qamar brought about his downfall.

Khilan and Kanishk chanced their arms just when it was required to take the team to a safe score.

As has been the norm, players didn’t shake hands after the match.

Brief Scores: India 252 in 49.5 overs (Vedant Trivedi 68, Kanishk Chouhan 35; Abdul Subhan 3/33) beat Pakistan 194 in 46.2 overs (Hamza Zahoor 42, Usman Khan 68, Farhan Yousuf 38; Khilan Patel 3/35, Ayush Mhatre 3/21) by 58 runs.