Antigua January 29 2022: Their victory against Pakistan seals Australia’s spot in the semi-finals of the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup, where they will face either India or Bangladesh, and they had in-form opener Teague Wyllie to thank for their last-eight win.
Wyllie, who had scored an unbeaten century and an 86 not out in the group stage, was in sparkling form again, top-scoring with 71 at the top of the order.
The 17-year-old’s fellow opener Campbell Kellaway’s 46 and an aggressive 64 from Corey Miller at number three helped Australia up to 276/7, and that proved more than enough on the day.
William Salzmann with 3/37 and two-wicket hauls for Tom Whitney and Jack Sinfield saw Australia rattle through Pakistan’s batting line-up, with plenty of players getting starts but nobody scoring more than 29 as they stumbled to 157 all out.
Pakistan elected to field after winning the toss, but soon regretted that decision as Australia’s openers Kellaway and Wylie put on 86 for the first wicket.
Kellaway was stumped off the bowling of the excellent Qasim Akram (3/40), but that just brought Miller to the crease and he accelerated the run-rate on his way to a 64-run innings.
Miller and Wyllie’s stand of 101 was brought to an end by Awais Ali, who had Wyllie bowled, with Miller following soon after to leave Australia 203 for three with just under ten overs remaining.
But the runs kept flowing as captain Cooper Connolly chipped in with 33 and William Salzmann cracked a quickfire 25 off 14 balls from number seven to set a competitive target.
It soon became clear that it would be well beyond Pakistan, with Muhammad Shehzad and Haseebullah Khan both caught behind to leave their side 27 for two in the fifth over.
Abdul Faseeh (28) and Irfan Khan (27) started to rebuild before the latter was bowled by Salzmann (3-37), and the wickets fell at regular intervals from then on.
Australia will now face the winner of the final Super League quarter-final between India and defending champions Bangladesh on Saturday.
