Australia through to final four; historic win for UAE over World Cup hosts

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.

Inspired UAE stun the hosts

A brilliant innings from Aayan Afzal Khan helped UAE to one of the biggest wins in their history as they beat the West Indies by 82 runs in the Plate semi-finals in Trinidad.

Having edged past Uganda by a wicket to seal their spot in the semis, UAE endured a torrid start against the tournament hosts when Shiva Shankar (3-31) struck early and often to leave the visitors scrambling at 26 for four.

But it was at that point that Aayan came to the crease, and his 93 turned the game on its head, with his 103-run partnership with Shival Bawa (51) for the seventh wicket ensured that the Asian would have something to defend.

He was the last man to fall in a first-innings effort of 224 for nine, a target that proved far too much for the Windies.

Jash Giyanani (3-21) made the early inroads, with the home side quickly finding themselves 32 for four. And unlike the UAE, they had no Aayan to save the day, as Dhruv Parashar (4-30) picked up the baton with the ball.

In fact the most resistance from the West Indies came from the final pair, Nathan Edward hitting an unbeaten 51 as he and No.11 Isai Thorne put on 70 for the final wicket before fittingly Aayan sealed the win.

UAE will now take on the winner of Ireland against Zimbabwe in the Plate final, while the West Indies take on the loser in the play-off for 11th.

Kakuru takes Uganda past PNG

Cyrus Kakuru inspired Uganda to a 35-run victory over Papua New Guinea in the Plate play-off semi-finals in Trinidad.

His 65 was central to Uganda’s 123 all out in a low-scoring affair and Papua New Guinea never really got going in reply, slumping to 88 all out inside 20 overs.

Uganda looked in trouble at 20 for three after electing to bat first, but it was at that point that Kakuru joined his skipper Pascal Murungi.

The captain chipped in with 16, the only other man to make double figures and while John Kariko (5/19) caused chaos, Kakuru motored along to a half-century. He eventually fell caught and bowled to Kariko for 65 off 59 balls with 11 boundaries.

But the reply never really got going, Juma Miyagi (4/29) and Joseph Baguma (3/30) combining to tear through the top order and reduce PNG to 27 for six. There was no way back from there, despite 26 from Junior Morea as PNG fell well short in reply. Uganda will now take on Scotland in the play-off for 13th.