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Townsville: India beat New Zealand by 9 runs in a thrilling semifinal in Townsville on Thursday to set up a clash with Australia in the ICC Under-19 World Cup final.
New Zealand lost their eighth wicket when Sandeep Sharma clean bowled Cam Fletcher who hit a 89-ball 53.
New Zealand lost their seventh wicket when Sandeep Sharma had Ish Sodhi caught by Harmeet Singh at mid-wicket in the second semifinal of the ICC Under-19 World Cup on Thursday.
New Zealand lost their sixth wicket when Ravikant Singh clean bowled Connor Neynens with a yorker in the second semifinal of the ICC Under-19 World Cup on Thursday. New Zealand lost their fifth wicket when Baba Aparajith took a simple return catch to dismiss Robert O'Donnell.
O'Donnell (29) had steadied the New Zealand innings by putting up a 56-run partnership with Cam Fletcher for the fifth wicket.
New Zealand were reduced to 63 for 4 before the O'Donnell-Fletcher stand.
New Zealand lost three wickets in three overs the first of which was claimed by Harmeet Singh who had Ben Horne caught by Akshdeep Nath at short third man. Nath took his second catch in the next over when taking a fine catch at point to dismiss Joe Carter off Ravikant Singh.
Harmeet took his second wicket in the next over when he had Will Young caught by Baba Aparajith at first slip.
Kamal Passi gave India the first breakthough when he dismissed Michael Davidson. Davidson looked to drive to a fuller ball outside the off-stump but the bat turned in his hand as he played the shot and the ball ended up being an easy catch for Ravikant Singh at mid-off.
Earlier, India's middle-order frittered away the good start provided by the top half as the team posted a disappointing 209/9 after being put into bat. Opener Prashant Chopra was the top-scorer for the Indians with a patient 104-ball 52, followed by number three batsman Baba Aparajith who added 44 runs to the total.
Skipper Unmukt Chand also did his bit with 31 runs off 44 deliveries but the rest of the line-up let the team down against a disciplined bowling effort by the New Zealand team.
For the Kiwis, left-arm spinner Ben Horne was the top wicket-taker, picking up 3/23 in six overs, while medium pacer Matthew Quinn managed a couple of scalps.
It was a decent start to the proceedings for the Indians as Unmukt and Prashant put on 51 runs for the first wicket before the former made his way back after becoming medium pacer Connor Neynens' only victim of the match.
Unmukt's knock included five hits to the fence. Next man in, Aparajith took hardly any time to settle down and rotated the strike with ease.
Aparajith and Prashant combined to add 81 runs before the latter departed, caught one-handed by Kiwi skipper Will Young at mid-on off Ed Nuttall's bowling.
Prashant struck five boundaries and a six during his innings. Aparajith departed a couple of overs later, his 61-ball innings ended by Indian-origin spinner Ish Sodhi.
The rest of the Indian line-up failed to make notable contributions as the team were restricted to a disappointing total.
Brief scores
India Under-19s 209 for 9 (Chopra 52, Aparajith 44, Horne 3-28)
New Zealand Under-19s 200 for 9 (Fletcher 53)
Result India Under-19s won by 9 runs
MOM Baba Aparajith (India Under-19s)
