India vs Pakistan Match Preview (U19 World Cup, Semi-Final): Predicted 11, match prediction, live streaming, weather forecast, and pitch report
Any game of cricket between India and Pakistan is always an eye-catching affair as the two countries have traditionally been arch-rivals and have been involved in some breathtaking encounters over the years.
Both India and Pakistan have been very dominant in the tournament so far. While India have maintained a 100% win record, Pakistan could win only two out of their three games at the group stage, as the third one was abandoned due to rain.
The conditions in South Africa haven’t been the easiest for batting and only those batsmen, who have shown the willingness to grind and graft, have been able to succeed.
While India have got a lot of quality with the bat both at the top as well as in the middle order, the Pakistani youngsters have also shown tremendous discipline in terms of how they have gone about their batting.
The fact that both the teams registered fairly comprehensive victories over their opponents in the quarter-final means both will come into the semi-final round full of confidence and will back themselves to get the better of their arch-rivals.
Match Details
Date: February 4, 2020 (Tuesday)
Time: 01:30 PM (IST)
Venue: JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom
Also see – Women’s T20 world cup points table
Weather Forecast
Potchefstroom will be cloudy and there might be a little bit of swing in the air for the fast bowlers. However, no rain has been forecasted at any stage of the day which is great news for the fans. The maximum temperature during the day will be 31 degree Celsius which is not very high.
Pitch Report
India had played their quarter-final fixture against Australia on the same ground and it was not one of those surfaces where the ball was coming onto the bat nicely. The ball was holding into the surface and was seaming a little bit as well. It might be no different this time around and the batsmen will have to showcase skills of a high standard to score runs on this pitch.
Probable XI
India: India will have high hopes with Kartik Tyagi again who not only swung the new ball to perfection in the quarter-final against Australia but bowled at a very encouraging pace as well.
Most of Kartik’s deliveries clocked over 140 KPH on the speed gun and the Aussie batsmen weren’t comfortable facing him at any point, either with the new or the old ball. India would want the young speedster to make an early mark against Pakistan as well.
India’s other trump card will be Yashasvi Jaiswal who is the highest scorer for the men in blue in the tournament, having scored 207 runs in 4 games at an average of 82.47 and a strike rate of over 100. If Jaiswal gets off to a good start at the top of the order, he has the ability to bat deep and bat long.
Predicted XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Divyansh Saxena, Tilak Verma, Priyam Garg (C), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Siddhesh Veer, Atharva Ankolekar, Ravi Bishnoi, Sushant Mishra, Kartik Tyagi, Akash Singh
Pakistan: Pakistan doesn’t have a single player in the list of top 10 leading run-scorers or top 10 leading wicket-takers in the tournament, but they have played collectively as a unit and have got the job done.
They would be looking for another solid start from Mohammad Huraira who was controversially mankaded in the quarter-final against Afghanistan when he was batting on 64.
Abbas Afridi, who has taken 9 wickets in 4 games for Pakistan so far, might be a tricky customer to deal with from India’s point of view as he has the tendency to rush onto the batsman.
Predicted XI: Haider Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Rohail Nazir (C & WK), Fahad Munir, Qasim Akram, Mohammad Haris, Irfan Khan, Abbas Afridi, Tahir Hussain, Aamir Ali, Mohammad Amir Khan
Prediction
Indian U19 boys have won 14 out of the 23 games they have played against the Pakistan U19 team so far and they are the favourites to stretch their tally to 15 in the upcoming semi-final. The prediction is for India to win the match and advance to the final.
Broadcast details
TV: Star Sports 3
Online: Hotstar