By IANS
Kuala Lumpur : India outclassed England by seven-wickets to storm into the semi-final of the Under-19 World Cup at Kinrara Oval here Sunday.
India bowled out England for a paltry 140 before romping home with seven wickets in hand and 10.5 overs to spare. India team will now face the winner of Monday’s quarter-final between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Wednesday’s semi-final.
Put into bat, England squandered a good position and crashed to 141 all out from 73 for one at one stage. Spinner Iqbal Abdullah (3/29) was the most successful bowler for India. Taruwar Kohli remained unbeaten on 63.
England’s batting failed against some spirited and accurate bowling by Indian attack. The top order England batsmen struggled against the bowling of the Indian pace attack spearheaded by Pradeep Sangwan (1/31) and Ajitesh Argal (1/17). Ravindra Jadeja (2/23) and Siddharth Kaul (2/21) then chipped in with wickets at regular intervals. Only James Taylor (41) stuck around long enough to post a significant score.
Indian openers set about the run chase cautiously waiting for the bad balls and making sure they picked up their singles with some good running between the wickets. Shreevats Goswami (26) and Tanmay Srivastav (22) batted around Turuvar and saw the game through.
In other quarter-final of the day, South Africa moved into the last four with an emphatic victory over Bangladesh at Bayuemas. Captain Wayne Parnell played crucial role with bat and the ball, top scoring with 57 to make sure his side reached the competitive total of 242-8 and then ripping through the Bangladesh batting, ending with remarkable figures of 6-8.
In reply Bangladesh was never in the game, losing wickets from the very first over. In the end it took just 11.5 overs to dismiss Bangladesh in a clinical display from the South Africa attack. Its prize is a semi-final place against Pakistan or Australia at Kinrara Oval on Friday.
Brief Scores:
At Kinrara Oval, India beat England by seven wickets
England 146 all out, 46 overs (James Taylor 41; Abdullah Iqbal 3-29, Siddharth Kaul 2-21, Ravindra Jadeja 2-23); India 149-3, 39.1 overs (Taruwar Kohli 63 not out; Tom Westley 2-30)
At Bayuemas, South Africa beat Bangladesh by 201 runs
South Africa 242-8, 50 overs (Wayne Parnell 57, Jonathan Vandiar 45; Shubhashis Roy 2-30, Rubel Hossain 2-41); Bangladesh 41 all out, 11.5 overs (Wayne Parnell 6-8, Obus Pienaar 2-8).