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Aaron George’s silken hundred seamlessly merged with the explosive fifties from IPL stars Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Ayush Mhatre guided India to the ICC U-19 World Cup final with a seven-wicket win over Afghanistan here on Wednesday. India now face England in the summit clash here on Friday. It will be India’s 10th final in the U-19 showpiece, a testimony to BCCI’s structured junior cricket programme that unearths serious talent.
Two Afghan centurions
India seemed to have a tough task ahead once Afghanistan piled 310-4, built around hundreds by Faisal Shinozada (110) and Uzairullah Niazal (101).
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi during his quickfire 33-ball 68
But India cantered past the target in 41.1 overs and it was also their highest-ever chase in the U-19 World Cup. Aaron (115, 104b) led the chase with a hundred of impeccable pace and precision placements of his shots.
George gets good support
He received ample backing from Sooryavanshi (68 off 33 balls) and Mhatre (62 off 59 balls) as India kept their run-rate above seven all the while. “I knew I was batting well, so the conversion [with team management] definitely mattered. I’m glad I trusted the process and kept believing in my game. Everyone played to their full potential, and I’m very happy to see our top-order doing so well. We are looking forward to the big final,” said George. As is his vaunt, Sooryavanshi gave a flying start to India’s innings with a flurry of boundaries, mainly off off-spinner Wahidullah Zadran.
Lucky Sooryavanshi
There was a slice of fortune too when Niazal dropped the left-hander on 22 at point off Abdul Aziz. But around that lapse, Sooryavanshi batted quite aggressively, even pulling off a stunning helicopter shot six off pacer Nooristani Omarzai. The opening wicket alliance stopped at 93, but Aaron then combined with Mhatre to add another 114 runs in just over 17 overs to take India past 200 in the 27th over.
Earlier, Shinozada and Niazai led the way with magnificent hundreds as Afghanistan posted a challenging total. Faisal top-scored with 110 off 93 balls, while Niazai sparkled with an unbeaten 101-run knock off 86 deliveries as the Indian bowlers struggled to pick wickets at regular intervals.
621
Total number of runs scored at Harare on Wednesday — the second-highest match-aggregate in U-19 World Cup knockouts
10
No of final appearances for India at the ICC U-19 World Cup
15
No of sixes for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in a single edition of the U-19 WC — the joint second-most after England’s Jack Burnham in 2016
Five
Total number of centuries across the two semi-finals — the most in any edition of the ICC U-19 World Cup
Brief scores
Afghanistan 310-4 in 50 overs (F Shinozada 110, U Niazai 101*, O Sadat 39, K Ahmadzai 31; K Chouhan 2-55, D Devendran 2-64) lost to India 311-3 in 41.1 overs (A George 115, V Sooryavanshi 68, A Mhatre 62, V Malhotra 38*; N Omarzai 2-64) by seven wickets
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