Dubai: Defending champions Australia survived a scare against a spirited Bangladesh to book a spot in the semi-finals of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Under-19 World Cup at the Endeavour Park in Townsville on Sunday.
After being bowled out for 171, Bangladesh reduced Australia to 33 for 4 before the hosts’ skipper Will Bosisto’s unbeaten 71 steered his team safely into the last four with five wickets to spare.
In Sunday’s other quarter-final, South Africa recorded a 103-run win over England. Australia and South Africa will now clash in the first semi-final on Tuesday.
Bosisto won the toss and elected to bowl first in overcast conditions. Left-handed Bangladesh opener Soumya Sarkar helped his team get off to a good start as he put on 64 with Liton Das for the opening wicket. This was ended by a superb piece of fielding by Cameron Bancroft, who ran out Das for 22.
Travis Head provided a vital breakthrough when he took the wicket of Sarkar for 73 off 80 balls with six fours and three sixes. Head returned figures of three for 30 from seven overs,
Australia got off to a shaky start in reply, losing the wickets of Bancroft (1), Victoria’s Meyrick Buchanan (0) and New South Wales’ Kurtis Patterson (0) in the first five overs.
Bosisto and Head combined for a crucial fifth-wicket stand of 67 to get Australia back on track.
In the South Africa-England tie, the Proteas survived the early dismissal of leading run-getter Quinton de Kock as captain Chad Bowes (46), left-hander Murray Coetzee (67) and Theunis de Bruyn (54) helped their team post 244 in 50 overs.
England’s batsmen failed to rise to the challenge — except for Ben Foakes and Alex Davies, who scored 54 each — as they were bowled out for 141 in the 41st over.
Durban off-spinner Prenelan Subrayen destroyed England’s batting with a four-wicket spell.
In the Plate Championship quarter-finals, Scotland beat Zimbabwe by 41 runs while Afghanistan beat Papua New Guinea by four wickets.