Indian tail-enders held their nerves in a low scoring affair to beat Pakistan by one wicket in the quarterfinals of the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in Australia. India, taking on their arch rivals, bowled beautifully to dismiss Pakistan out for a paltry 136 runs. It looked like India would reach the target very easily, but they received several hiccups on their way to victory.

Here are few of the hits and flops of the match:

India

Hits:

Baba Aparajith: When India’s batting was collapsing like a pack of cards, it was this lad from Tamil Nadu who showed immense grit and determination and launched a fight-back. He played a patient yet very useful knock. He scored 51 of 97 deliveries laced with three fours. He was equally useful with the ball and took one wicket by giving away 23 runs in five overs. His all-round performance earned him the man of the match award.

Vijay Zol: He showed enough character and played a second fiddle to Aparajith and added 68 for the fourth wicket with Aparajith. He was more fluent in his approach and scored 36 of 62 deliveries including five fours.

Harmeet Singh: After Aparajith departed, it looked like Pakistan have turned the tides in their favour. They were taking wickets at regular intervals and almost wrapped up the match until Harmeet stood in defiance. He hung on and scored an unbeaten 13 of 34 deliveries to bring India home. He was exceptional with the ball as well and scalped one wicket by giving away 20 runs in his quota of 10 overs.

Sandeep Singh: Sandeep Singh was the man who got it going for India with the ball. He got early breakthroughs for India and Pakistan found it difficult to force a comeback. He took three wickets by giving away just 24 runs.

Ravikant Singh: Ravinkant ripped apart the Pakistani middle-order and never allowed the opposition to settle down. He returned with figures of 43-3.

Flops:

Unmukt Chand: The team had a very small target to chase and it was expected that the skipper would lead from the front. But then he was unable to capitalise on the situation and was out for a duck in the third over which started the Indian downfall.

Pakistan:

Hits:

Babar Azam: When India were taking wickets at will, Babar stood there at the wicket. He played a very useful innings and it was his knock that gave Pakistan a little stability up the order. He scored 50 of 109 deliveries including four boundaries.

Ehsan Adil: After Babar’s wicket, it never looked like Pakistan would go past the 100 runs mark. But then it was Adil’s enterprising knock that took them past the three figure mark. He scored 35 of 38 deliveries and hit four huge sixes.

Zia ul Haq: Wrecker-in-chief for Pakistan, Zia was unplayable. He had the pace and swing and Indian batsmen were found wanting in-front of him. He took three wickets for 23 runs.

Azizullah: He was great in the later part of the match and was busy cleaning up the Indian tail. If Zia was able to get early breaks, he gave a real chance to Pakistan in the later part of the innings. He returned with three for 30.

Flops:

Sami Aslam and Imam ul Haq: They were one of the main reason why Pakistan slumped further on in the innings. Sami who opened the innings was out first ball of the match and Imam who walked in after his dismissal could not do much and was out three balls later. Both of them were out for nought.

By Indian Sports News Network