With the extraordinary performances from Baba Aparajith and Harmeet Singh, the Indian Under 19 World Cup team had been through to the finals of the ICC Under 19 World Cup after their victory over the New Zealand team, today.
Unmukt Chand the captain of the team said that it was Aparajith all round performance and Harmeet's dexterity with the ball that made the difference. Though they just eked out emerging victorious, the nine run victory was all that mattered to proceed to the last game that decides the World Champions. As they say a win is a win, no matter what.
After scoring only 209 runs at the Tony Ireland Stadium, the bowlers had managed to put a check to the batsmen from the Kiwis. On Sunday the team will confront Australia in a battle for the trophy.
The New Zealand had reached 200 with great difficulty after losing 9 of them team members to the tricky bowling from India with no more balls to spare for the last few runs for a victory.
"Spinners have been bowling consistently well for us. Harmeet was excellent and Aparajith also supported him well. They are the most important players of the team," Unmukt expressed while speaking at the ceremony after the match.
They both fared well in their bowling figures with Aparajith at 1/29 and Harmeet with 2/30, restricting NZ in the middle overs giving India the upper hand in a match that did not appear promising after the first innings.
Aparajith had excelled in batting scoring 44 runs and pushing the Indian score into decent triple digit cricket score over 200.
"It feels great (to be in the final). It is a result of great team work," the young Indian skipper said.
"I am just trying to keep my momentum going. I am trying to get my basics right. But Australia is a very competitive side," Aparajith said speaking of the Sunday's final.
Will Young, the NZ captain on the other hand said that though they had shone with their bowling, they had failed to achieve the same with the bat even with a easy target of 210.
In other news, India vs New Zealand has resumed play after the break. The livecricketscore is at 243/3 as Kohli and Pujara continue to bring troubles to New Zealand.
The match is now in progress on ESPN live or you can choose live streaming cricket online. Several sites also offer live score and live commentary for the game.
(AW- Anil)
