India U19 vs Pakistan U19, 12th Match, Super Six Group 2 (B,C), ICC Under 19 World Cup 2026 - Commentary

That's it for this one. So we have the semis confirmed now. England v Australia and India v Afghanistan. We will see you for those ones. There's a glut of cricket happening at this moment. Do follow them. See you there.

Ayush Mhatre | India captain: Yeah, that was a really good start from Vaibhav and Aaron, but in the middle phase there was some help in the wicket and just ball was a little bit spinning. So yeah, Veda, KC, batted was really brilliant. (on Vedant) Yeah, he was batting really well in the nets, so I was really, really confident, me and my team, that he will definitely score runs. And today he showed that he has some talent also. (on their bowling and batting) Yeah, the boys were really doing really good contributions from the bat and ball as well. And how bowlers bowled was really brilliant. When the Pakistani batsmen was really batting really brilliant in the starting 25 overs. But afterall, the ball was a little bit spinning. So yeah, the spinners also bowled really well. Yeah, we are just looking match by match. Just not thinking about finals and all. Just want to win the semi-finals and then go to the finals. (highlight of this game) The way Vedant batted was really brilliant and KC also, batting.

Farhan Yousaf | Pakistan captain: Yes, in start we bowled very well and in mid, we got three wickets early on, but slightly plan changed, bowler slightly wayward bowling in middle overs. So the reason why that's a big total. (on them leaking runs at the end) Yes, obviously the set batsman played and one more fielder came in circle, so it's tough one for all the bowlers and yes, I know that's very disappointing. So we recover in the future and I'm really proud of my boys. (what was the plan for the chase?) Yes, first plan is win and qualify for the semi-finals. First priority and first plan is same, but after losing some wickets, so whole plan totally changed. We only win the game, but unfortunately wicket was tough in second time. So doesn't matter result, result doesn't matter, but I'm really proud of my boys, especially fielding unit and bowling unit.

Kanishk Chouhan | Player of the Match (translated from Hindi): My partner told me to take my time as the wicket wasn't easy to go and make runs straightaway. We thought 230-240 was a good score but the longer we batted, we managed to get better. (on his batting plans) We wanted to take it as deep as possible. If the ball was there to be hit, then go for the boundary, otherwise find the singles. The wicket was normal. I wanted to keep it tight which was helpful for the team and for me as well. It feels nice when there's so much support from the entire team.

17:15 Local Time, 15:15 GMT, 20:45 IST: Bizarre tactics from Pakistan as they firstly didn't opt to go for the target inside 33.3 overs which would've helped them get into the semis. And in the end they fail to win the game outright as well. This after they got a good start and were at one stage 88/1 and 151/2. But the pitch started to spin and Mhatre smartly recognised that. He brought himself on and picked up a three-fer. Alongside Khilan Patel, Vihaan and Kanishk the quartet took 8 wickets. It all started to unravel for Pakistan after they lost Farhan Yousaf and they slide to a 58-run defeat. Mhatre struck with his first ball and after that it was just one-way traffic. Questions will be raised as to why Pakistan didn't go for the target from ball one. They were happy to get off to a solid start and never showed any urgency. India will now face Afghanistan in the semi-final. While Pakistan are out. Stay tuned for the post-match stuff...

Khilan Patel to Huzaifa Ahsan, THATS OUT!! Bowled!!