Pakistan And West Indies Reach World Cup Semi-Finals

Pakistan And West Indies Reach World Cup Semi-Finals

Jason Holder (right) celebrates the fall of the final wicket and West Indies' victory.

©International Cricket Council

Pakistan and the West Indies reached the semi-finals of the ICC Under-19 World Cup with wins over India and England respectively.

The clash between traditional rivals India and Pakistan lived up to its billing with Pakistan overhauling the reigning champions by two wickets in a match that was reduced to 23 overs per side. Batting first, India made 114 for nine, Mandeep Singh top scoring with 40 and Fayyaz Butt taking four wickets. In reply, Ahsan Ali made 30 and Rameez Aziz 28 before Pakistan scrambled home with four balls to spare.

The West Indies beat England by 18 runs in a match that was also affected by the bad weather. Kraigg Brathwaite scored 69 in 96 balls and Andre Creary 52 in 53 as they came to terms with tricky conditions to reach 166 before being bowled out in 34.4 overs as no other batsman could pass 11. David Payne took four wickets and Ben Stokes three. However, unlike against India in their final group game, England could not produce a successful run chase, being bowled out for 148, Jason Holder doing much of the damage with five for 19.

In the plate competition, Ireland beat Zimbabwe by seven wickets on the Duckworth/Lewis method to register their first win of the competition and progress to the semi-finals, Paul Stirling hitting 65 in 50 balls while the game between USA and Canada failed to produce a result due to rain. Canada will meet Ireland in the semi-final, however, due to their superior record in the early stages of the tournament.

© Cricket World 2010

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