Australia edge out Pakistan by one-wicket, to face India in U19 WC final
Benoni (South Africa), Feb 8: Tom Straker's six-wicket haul and Harry Dixon's fifty inspired Australia to a tense one-wicket victory over Pakistan in the semifinal here on Thursday, setting up their ICC Under-19 World Cup final against defending champions India.
The summit clash will be played at the same venue on Sunday.
Pakistan made a below par 179, built around two half-centuries by Arafat Minhas (52) and Azan Awais (52) as they struggled against pacer Straker (6/24).
Despite having their own struggles against spirited Pakistan bowlers, the Aussies managed to reach 181 for 9 in 49.1 overs to seal the final berth with Dixon (50, 75b, 5x4) and Oliver Peake (49, 75b, 3x4) leading their chase.
While India will be playing their ninth title match, the Aussies are appearing in their sixth final.
India have won a record five titles while Australia have bagged three titles, and the last time the Yellow Brigade lifted the trophy was in 2010 with a win over Pakistan. That edition was held in New Zealand.
However, Australia's win was anything but smooth as a bunch of determined Pakistan bowlers made them stretch for every single run.
Australian openers Dixon and Sam Konstas (14) added 33 runs but they lost four wickets while adding 26 runs in 6.2 overs that pushed them into a tight corner.
Not many teams relish the pressure situation better than the Aussies and they brought out that quality to the fore here too.
Without the burden of asking rate behind their back, the Aussies middle-order concentrated on collecting the runs through nurdles and nudges interspersed with the odd boundary.
Dixon, who made his third fifty of the tournament, and Peake milked 43 runs for the fifth wicket in a shade over 10 overs that kept the Aussies firmly in the hunt.
But left-arm spinner Minhas snapped the partnership, castling Dixon with a sharply-spun ball that clipped the bails off.
But Peake and Tom Campbell (25, 42b, 2x4) guided the Aussies forward adding 44 runs in a little over 11 overs without taking any undue risks.
However, a moment of pure magic from Arafat ended the blossoming stand, as the Pakistan spinner rattled Campbell's off-stump with an arm ball.
Pakistan soon inflicted an even bigger blow through impressive 15-year-old pacer Ali Raza who had Peake caught behind down the leg side.
Raza, who bowled through the cramps during his last spell, soon added Straker and Mahli Beardman to the list of victims in his last over as Australia slumped to 164 for nine.
They needed a further 16 runs to win from that point with a wicket in hand but Raf MacMillan (19 not out) and Callum Vidler (3 not out) dragged their team past the line in the final over.
In contrast to their lion-hearted effort with the ball, Pakistan, earlier, had dished out a shaky effort with the bat after the Aussies won the toss and elected to field.
They lost openers Shamyl Hussain and Shazaib Khan inside the first Power Play segment itself as the Aussies pacers bowled the hard lengths to keep their opponents on the backfoot.
Straker, Beardman and Vidler bend their backs to hit the pitch hard and purchase a good amount of bounce and carry to trouble Pakistan batters as they could only manage 27 runs in the initial 10 overs.
Pakistan had only one 50-plus alliance in their innings, a 54-run stand between Awais and Minhas for the sixth wicket.
Both Awais and Minhas shunned the aerial route and amassed their runs more through ground shots and well-judged singles and twos, but their alliance also consumed nearly 14 overs as Pakistan struggled for momentum.
Just as they began to open up, Straker returned to dismiss Awais. The right-arm pacer pinned Awais to the backfoot with a couple of short-pitched deliveries before pitching one up.
The oldest two-card trick in cricket deceived the 19-year-old too as Awais snicked a dolly to Ryan Hicks behind the stumps.
Minhas, who played three T20I for Pakistan senior side, soon brought up his fifty in 58 balls. But his attempt to go big against offie Campbell resulted in a simple in the outfield to Oliver Peake.
It gave the Australian bowlers a chance to target the lower-order Pakistan batters and Straker did the demolition job with perfection.
Pakistan fought back but Australia held their nerve to secure a thrilling one-wicket win and stormed into the #U19WorldCup 2024 Final 💪
— ICC (@ICC) February 8, 2024
Match Highlights 🎥 pic.twitter.com/yvTUH97IdH
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Jharkhand horror: Man kills live-in partner, chops body into 40 pieces
Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.
The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.
Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.
"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.
Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.
“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.
Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.
"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.
The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.
Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.
"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.
The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.
Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.
