Yashasvi Jaiswal was India’s star performer in the much-anticipated semi-final clash between India and Pakistan at Senwes Park in Potchefstroom on Tuesday. The left-handed batsman smashed a marvelous century to take his side to the finals in the ongoing U19 World Cup.
Jaiswal added a 176-run stand with Divyansh Saxena to polish off the target (172) in less than 36 overs. The clinical performance from the Indian pair helped their nation to win the contest by 10-wickets. Both Jaiswal and Divyansh remained unbeaten on 105 and 59, respectively.
India also registered their fourth successive win over Pakistan in the U19 World Cups. It was the first instance in the history of U19 WC that any side won a knock-out match without losing a single wicket.
Jaiswal is now the leading run-scorer in U19 WC 2020. In 5 games, the southpaw has clubbed 312 runs with a mind-boggling average of 156.
One can understand the dominance of Indian batsmen in U19 WC with the fact that the last five batsmen who have scored a ton in semis or finals of U19 WC have been Indians:
- 2006 SF – Cheteshwar Pujara (129*)
- 2012 Final – Unmukt Chand (111*)
- 2018 SF – Shubman Gill (102*)
- 2018 Final – Manjot Kalra (101*)
- 2020 SF – Yashasvi Jaiswal (105*)
It was the 7th occasion when Indian team reached in the finals of U19 WC:
- 2000 – winners
- 2006 – finalists
- 2008 – winners
- 2012 – winners
- 2016 – finalists
- 2018 – winners
- 2020 – finalists (the tournament is still active)
Jaiswal and Saxena also managed to put the highest partnership for India against their arch-rivals in U19 WC:
- 176* Y Jaiswal – D Saxena, Potchefstroom 2020 (1st wicket)
- 119 S Khan – S Samson, Dubai 2014 (5th wicket)
- 89 M Kalra – P Shaw, Christchurch 2018 (1st wicket)
- 74* M Kaif – A Solanki, Durban 1998 (6th wicket)
The Priyam Garg-led side will face the winners of Bangladesh vs. New Zealand in finals on Sunday (Feb 09).
