The pitch was treacherous. After all, it was the same one which saw Australia beat England by 31 runs just a few days back, even though the Aussies scored only 127 runs.
But this young Indian team – with 'The Wall' [Indian batting legend Rahul Dravid] as their mentor and coach – has arguably the most exciting batting talent on display in the ongoing ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup.
And three prominent among those came to the party on Friday against Bangladesh in Queenstown.
Captain Prithvi Shaw who again gave his team a solid start with a 54-ball-40, man-of-the-match Shubman Gill who top-scored with 86, and Abhishek Sharma with a half-century of his own, ensured that Team Blue made a formidable 265/10 in 49.2 overs.
Not done yet, Sharma then returned with bowling figures of 11 runs, five overs and two wickets. Kamlesh Nagarkoti with his three wickets giving away only 18 runs, and Shivam Mavi with two wickets, were the other notable bowling performances. The Indian fielding was also top class, resulting in two run-outs.
Bangladesh ultimately could only make 134, losing the quarter-final clash by 131 runs.
This capped a wonderful day for the young Indian team, but what will please the Indian team management the most, is that the victory was a comprehensive team effort with no stand-out-performance.
India-Pakistan Semi-final awaits
The win has set-up – what is often described in cricketing parlance as the greatest battle of all – a India-Pakistan semi-final clash to be held in Christchurch's Hagley Oval on Tuesday, January 30, starting at 10.30am.
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