India down South Africa to enter Under-19 World Cup for 9th time in Benoni

Benoni: Five-time champions India overcame some jittery moments to edge past South Africa by two wickets to advance to the final of the Under-19 World Cup for the ninth time, in Benoni on Tuesday.

Skipper Uday Saharan led from the front with a calm and composed 81, while Sachin Dhas smashed a quickfire 96 to bail India out from being 32/4 in their tricky pursuit of 245.

The duo, who had put together a 200-plus stand against Nepal in the previous match, this time stitched a record 171-run stand for the fifth wicket from just 187 deliveries to seize control.

Needing 19 from 19 balls, India lost two wickets -- Aravelly Avanish (10) and Murugan Abhishek (0) in three balls -- but Saharan kept calm in the company of Raj Lambani (13) who sealed a place in their fifth successive final with a boundary.

The pace duo of Kwena Maphaka (3/32) and Tristan Luus (3/37) were the pick of South Africa bowlers.

Earlier, India's bowlers limited South Africa to 244/7 with a disciplined performance on a pitch that offered them considerable assistance.

Wicketkeeper-batter Lhuan-dre Pretorious stroked a solid 76, while Richard Seletswane scored 64 to rally the hosts.

After losing Steve Stolk and David Teeger inside the first 10 overs, South Africa consolidated with Pretorious and Seletswane adding 72 runs for the third wicket but they took nearly 22 overs for that.

The South African top-order just could not get going against India pacers Naman Tiwari (1/52) and Raj Limbani (3/60) who found appreciable pace, bounce and carry from the Willowmoore track to trouble them.

Even when Seletswane and Pretorious were reconstructing the South Africa innings, they failed to score at a brisk pace, as the run-rate for a large part remained under four.

Left-arm spinners Saumy Pandey (1/38) and Musheer Khan (2/43) along with off-spinner Priyanshu Moliya shackled the host batters' progress in this phase, bowling a tidy line and length.

Pretorious, who tried to bring in some momentum hammering Moliya for a six over midwicket, departed just as the alliance began to blossom.

Pretorious, who made his third successive fifty in this event, attempted to cart Musheer over midwicket but a leaping Murugan Abhishek held on to a stunner to end his stay.

However, Seletswane carried on with lot of determination and completed his fifty in 90 balls with a single off left-arm seamer Tiwari.

But Seletswane also could not build on the platform as he soon fell to Tiwari, as his hoick ended in the hands of a running-in Moliya in the deep.

Juan James (24 off 19 balls) and Tristan Luus (23 off 12 balls) helped South Africa amass 81 runs off the last 10 overs but they might find that middle-over lethargy tough to overcome.

However, South Africa, the 2014 champions, can take a modicum of consolation from the fact that they are the first side to score more than 200 against this Indian attack. Agencies

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