Benoni [South Africa], February 9 (ANI): Following the victory in the nail-biting semi-final against Pakistan in the Under-19 World Cup on Thursday, Australia skipper Hugh Weigbgen said that he was very confident of winning despite losing the nine wickets.
Australia defeated Pakistan by one wicket after Ali Raza wreaked havoc against Aussies with his four-wicket haul. An interesting chase ensued as Pakistan fought on the back of Raza and Arafat Minhas. However, Australia managed to prevail in the low-scoring 50-over match.
The 19-year-old player stated that he had full faith in Raf MacMilllan and Callum Vidler that they would finish off the game. Then afterwards he spoke about the Indian team and said that the team loves challenges.
“Never in doubt, had full faith in Vids and Raf to get the job done (laughs). A lot of emotions in the dressing room. I still don’t know what happened. Tough to leave out Anderson, but Tom Straker bowled unbelievably today. We felt like we were well-prepared coming into this fixture. We fought so hard. Every time we thought we were on top, we lost a wicket. 17-year-old Peake, such composure and maturity in the middle. India are a class team. We’ll love that challenge,” Weigbgen said after the match.
Recapping the match, Pakistan set a total of 180 runs after being asked to bat first by the Australian skipper.
Harry Dixon and Sam Konstas helped Australia get off to a solid start in its chase of 180. The pair scored 33 runs in the opening powerplay. However, Ali Raza responded for Pakistan at the opening of the second Powerplay. He got one to nip back in and sent Konstas’ off-stump cartwheeling.
Soon after, Pakistan got a fortuitous break in the 14th over when Hugh Weibgen smacked Naveed Khan’s full toss straight into the palms of Haroon Arshad at cover. Wickets continued to fall, with Harjas Singh being run out in the 16th over due to a misunderstanding, and Ryan Hicks being bowled by Ubaid Shah in the next.
Dixon and Ollie Peake then worked together to rebuild the Australian innings. Their steady progress was aided by good stroke play and Australia’s chase was soon back on track. Dixon completed his half-century in the 24th over. However, just as the game was swinging in Australia’s favour, Arafat Minhas bowled Dixon for a beauty. The left-arm spinner bowled with excellent control, and Australia’s asking rate increased.
The addition of Tom Campbell aided a left-right hitting combination in operation. Campbell and Peake followed up on their prior cooperation, helping Australia get closer to their goal. Pakistan needed a special act to get back into the game, and Minhas delivered. He bowled Campbell for 25 in the 39th over. Then Raza removed Peake for 49 to leave the game evenly poised.
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. (ANI)
