BENONI (South Africa): Pacer Tom Straker broke Kagiso Rabada’s record during Australia’s nail-biting victory over Pakistan in the Under-19 World Cup semifinal.
Straker produced a match-winning spell in the first innings as he toppled Pakistan’s top order and then returned to the attack to clear up the tail end and force Pakistan to end up at a score of 179. He surpassed Rabada’s record best bowling figures of 6/25 in the semifinal or the final of the U-19 World Cup, in 2014. Straker registered 6/24 in 9.5 overs in the semifinal and bowled one maiden over as well.
The right-arm speedster bagged the wickets of Shamyl Hussain, Azan Awais, Pakistan U-19 skipper Saad Baig, Ubaid Shah, Mohammad Zeeshan, and Ali Raza. The 18-year-old stated that after his dismissal the atmosphere was very intense in the dressing room. He further said that the bowlers did well to bowl out the opposition under 180.
“We got it closer than we would have wanted. After I got out, no one was moving, everyone was sitting on their seats and it was pretty intense out there. Pretty proud, especially those last two wickets, I could finish it off early. Credit to us the bowlers to bowl them out for under 180, it was a pretty good effort today. I didn’t know that, I’ll take that one. Probably not, we had pretty good confidence throughout the whole tournament and leading up to it. So, pretty similar”, Straker asserted after the match.
“Charlie Anderson is obviously a quality fast bowler and really tough to leave. On the other side, Tom Straker bowled unbelievably today and yeah, I thought he was brilliant”, Australia captain Hugh Weibgen said as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
The nerve-racking semifinal saw Australia defeat Pakistan by one wicket after Ali Raza wreaked havoc on Aussie batters with his four-wicket haul. An interesting chase brewed as Pakistan fought on the back of Raza and Arafat Minhas. However, Australia managed to prevail in the low-scoring 50-over match.
After Harry Dixon and Sam Konstas helped Australia get off to a solid start in its chase of 180, Ali Raza responded for Pakistan which led to an exciting clash.
“We fought so hard. I thought every time we thought we were nearly there on top, we lost a wicket, but we just kept fighting. Those partnerships, a few contributions through the middle there. Seventeen-year-old Oli Peake — unbelievable — showed such maturity for such a young bloke. Everyone contributed really well”, Weibgen said.
Raza’s double-wicket final over put Pakistan just one away from an appearance in the final. However, MacMillan kept his cool and saw Australia through in the final over. “(I was) never in doubt. Had full faith in Vids (Vidler) and Raf to get the job done. A lot of emotions, to be honest. I was quite nervous. I still don’t know really what happened, but it was awesome”, the skipper added.
Australia will now face the defending champions India in the U-19 World Cup final on Sunday at the Sahara Park Willowmoore Cricket Stadium. (ANI)