India to face Pakistan in Under-19 World Cup Super Six stage

A third straight win to finish the group stage of the Under-19 World Cup has made five-time champions India the top-placed team in Group B, and that has meant an India vs Pakistan contest in the Super Six stage, scheduled for February 1 in Bulawayo.

The rules of the World Cup are such that the three teams from the groups that make it to the Super Sixes, carrying forward the points earned against the fellow Super Sixes teams, play two games at that stage – against the teams whose ranking in the group stage was different from their own: A1 will play D2 and D3, for example, but not D1. Groups A and D are in a Super Sixes group together, and Groups B and C are in the other.

India finished as B1, and Pakistan C2, with England topping that group. In the Super Sixes, India’s other opponents are Zimbabwe (C3), who they play on January 27 in Bulawayo. Pakistan’s other game in the Super Sixes is on the same day, against New Zealand in Harare.

It has been a dominant run for India, who started their campaign with a comprehensive win over USA, bowling the opponents out for 107 and then crossing the DLS-revised target with six wickets and 118 balls in hand.

Next up were Bangladesh, and that got a little tighter in comparison. India scored 238. Bangladesh, set a revised target of 165 in 29 overs, got to within 18 runs before being bowled out. On Saturday, India bowled New Zealand out for 135 in a 37-over rain-reduced contest and reached the revised target of 130 in 13.3 overs with seven wickets to spare.

Pakistan, meanwhile, lost their first match to England by 36 runs, stopping at 174 after England had scored 210. The two wins came after that. Scotland were beaten by six wickets, and Zimbabwe by eight wickets.

India and Pakistan played each other recently in the Under-19 Asia Cup final in Dubai, on December 21 last year, and Pakistan emerged victorious on that occasion, winning by 191 runs – scoring 347 for 8 courtesy Sameer Minhas’ 172, and then finishing India off at 156 with medium pacer Ali Raza picking up four wickets. (ESPNcricinfo)