ICC U19 World Cup | NZ V Pakistan | 5 wicket victory sets up QF clash with India

[freelance_cricketer]

August 16th
Buderim, Australia


The final day of group games saw the two undefeated teams in Group B, Pakistan and New Zealand come head to head at John Blanck Oval, Buderim. Both had qualified for the Quarter Finals and the reward for the winner was a meeting with India in Townsville. New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat. The Pakistan coach also insisting they would have done the same had they won the toss.

Both Pakistani quicks once again started with plenty of venom and pace which the New Zealanders failed to handle. Ehsan Adil once again was an unlucky recipient of a mistaken chance. He enticed an edge from Carter which just carried to Saad Ali at second slip but he couldn’t hold onto it. Saad Ali made up for it when Zia-Ul-Haq got an edge of Horne’s bat. Saad Ali launched himself and plucked a boundary-bound ball out of the air and held onto it. Zia-Ul-Haq the bowler was ecstatic at this dismissal.

That set the tone for the day, as New Zealand failed to take off. Once again the Pakistani spinners came into the fore early and Carter was the next to go when he played a fine nick through to the keeper Salman Afridi off Zafar Gohar's bowling. New Zealand captain, William Young who had hit a century against Scotland earlier tried to break free with a big six off Gohar over cow corner. However he was unable to repeat his last-match heroics as he was out the following over lbw to Nawaz. New Zealand struggling at 3-44 at this point.

From then began a period of reconsolidation for the New Zealand innings as they took the score past 100. It was a slow paced innings by Walsh and O’Donnell, but nonetheless it was needed. It was continued tight bowling from the Pakistani bowlers and well supported by the fielders which kept the runs dry. The ground fielding was superb and Sami Aslam had a direct hit which would have been very close to out, but the Umpire disagreed. One rare moment of attack was when O'Donnell stepped down the ground and hit Usman Qadir over his head for a boundary.

Qadir was varying his line well and tossing it up as well. He also bowled a few short ones too, but the Kiwi batsmen were not able to find the gaps. Finally the pressure extracted a false shot from the batsman as O’Donnell mishit an Usman Qadir delivery in the air. Imam-Ul-Haq came running in from deep mid on to take a running catch.

The quicks were brought back into the attack and even with the older ball, the scoring became no easier. Ehsan Adil, who according to Nepalese umpire Buddhi Pradhan was a yard quicker than Zia-Ul-Haq, finally received just reward for his bowling, when he got through the batsman’s defense and the ball hit the top of off-stump . It was a superb ball from Ehsan to dismiss Henry Walsh who had been out in the middle for the longest period of any Kiwi batsman.

Zia who earlier hit the ground hard at short third man and was seen clutching his knees, also added to his tournament wicket tally when he had Yugaraja caught stuck in his crease and out lbw. Ehsan Adil also picked up his second with another lbw call against the New Zealand keeper Cam Fletcher. New Zealand at this stage were in trouble at 7-121 and in real danger of not completing their allotted 50 overs.

Pakistan continued to attack with men in close in the final stages of the innings. In the 47th over they had only a fine leg and a third man outside the circle with Zia-Ul-Haq bowing. The attacking field allowed the kiwis to hit over the infield and added some valuable lower order runs, however Babar Azam deserved praise for attacking right till the end.

Nawaz bowled the final over of the innings and it was a yorker which caught van Woerkom off guard. Some more runs were scampered in the over as New Zelaand finished with 8/152. Pakistan had used just five bowlers with each of their regulars bowling their allotted 10 overs. The O’Donnell wicket was probably the only dismissal you could put down to the batsman, the rest were a result of superb bowling from the Pakistani U19s.

New Zealand needed to bowl well to restrict the Pakistani side. A common feature of their bowling thus far in the tournament had been a large number of wides and it was that source which was the first score of the day as Nuttall started with a wide. From the other end Quinn gave Pakistan its first major headache when Babar gave a sharp catch to O'Donnel at backward point.

Imam-Ul-Haq, nephew of the great Inzimam-Ul-Haq was the next batsman out in the middle. He lacked fluency in his inning early on and had a few lucky escapes over the slips and the keeper. It was hence surprising when the next wicket to fall was not Ul-Haq but instead Sami Aslam who had been batting well till then. Sami went to hit that over the bowler, instead couldn't quite get under it and it was an easy catch at mid-on for Davey.

Umar Waheed was the next to fall when he edged a ball he couldn’t get out off and gave the skiddy bowler Davey his first wicket of the tournament.

The bowling powerplay was taken by the New Zealanders in the first instance it was offered in the 16th over. Left-arm spinner Theo van Woerkom was asked to bowl the first over of the powerplay and the bold move didn’t pay off as Saad Ali hit a couple of boundaries including a scintillating square cover drive along the ground.

Ul-Haq also began to finally work the ball around and picked up some easy runs as they brought up the 50 run partnership. Running between the wickets had been a highlight, but it was a second run which cost the wicket of Imam-Ul-Haq. He turned around and sprinted back as the ball was thrown in from Quinn. A dive was apparently not enough as the umpire gave him out. Imam did not look convinced, but had to make his way back. A scorecard reading Ul-Haq runout, added some nostalgia.

It brought about a bit of a wobble from the Pakistani batsman as they looked to bring the runs home in quick time. Saad Ali departed for 32, but some meaty blows from Mohammad Nawaz and the keeper Salman Afridi ensured Pakistan were never really in trouble. Nawaz particularly took after the wayward Nutall pulling a couple of consecutive short balls over the fence.

Pakistan romped home comfortably in the 32nd over with 5 wickets in hand. Mohammad Nawaz being named Man of the Match for his bowling figures of 2-32 and a quickfire 23 off 20 balls to finish the game. It set up an exciting Pakistan-India clash in the Quarter Final on Monday in Townsville.

With this victory, Pakistan are all set to meet India in the Quarter Finals on Monday, August 20th - possibly the game of the tournament!

[Amjid Javed]

Good performance from our bowlers again and good to see that our batting doesnt depend on one or two players.

Pakistan v India is a massive game at any level and 1/4 clash will be no different.

[MenInG]

Brilliant reporting by PakPassions own Genghis - great work mate.

[sallu78]

Would this match be televised?????????

[Golden arm]

seems like below par performance by umpires?
why didnt they use 3rd umpire for run outs???

umpiring at junior levels and domestic levels continue to be a joke.

when on earth ICC is going to ensure quality of umpiring at junior levels?

[KA$H]

again another very good and detailed write up - keep it up

[Golden arm]

if ehsan adil is a yard quicker than zia ul haq, then it means he is also in late 130s and early 140s range, which is quite good for under 19 bowler!!!

[sehsan]

Brilliant report Genghis bahi, know a lot more about the match after i read this report.

India/Pakistan game would be massive and i am already looking forward to watch it.

[chacha kashmiri]

nice win and write up, pk india would have made a nice final tho

[Bullet Drive]

Originally Posted by Golden arm if ehsan adil is a yard quicker than zia ul haq, then it means he is also in late 130s and early 140s range, which is quite good for under 19 bowler!!!

Its decent. Seen the England U-19 bowl around 88. WI were touching 90 regularly.