England elbow holders Australia out of U19 World Cup

England knocked out defending champions Australia in a thrilling fixture to book a berth in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup final after four years.

Going into Tuesday’s semi-final in Bulawayo, both Australia and England had remained undefeated in their five matches in the tournament. As one of the oldest rivalries in the sport took center-stage, it was England who produced a well-rounded and matured performance to come up victors.

Only five players had tonned up in U19 World Cup semifinals hitherto. England captain Thomas Rew and his Australian counterpart Oliver Peake joined that exclusive club, also featuring Cheteshwar Pujara, Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal, in a high-octane game at Queens Sports Club. In the end, Rew’s 110 overshadowed Peake’s 100 as England held their composure to win by 27 runs.

“Yeah, it means a lot,” Rew said after the win over Australia. “We came into this tournament with one aspiration and now there is one more game left.

“I think we’ve all had dreams of this World Cup and lifting the trophy. So it’s just another game of cricket for us.”

Rew was disappointed with himself for getting out in the 43rd over and wants to ensure one of England’s set batters remains at the crease during the last few overs in the upcoming summit clash.

“I feel like we still need a batter in the last five overs. That was my fault today,” Rew noted.

“I think that’s just a silly dismissal with seven overs left in the game. If I can bat another five (overs) there, I think that makes a big difference. But I think we’ve done really well this competition to stick to our game plan.”