South Africa march into U-19 cricket World Cup final

Dubai, Feb 26 (IANS) South Africa marched into the final of the ICC Under-19 World Cup with a convincing 80-run win over Australia at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium here Wednesday.

South Africa will take on Pakistan, who beat England by three wickets in the first semi-final Monday, in the final Saturday.

Eighteen-year old pacer Kagiso Rabada starred for the South Africans picking up six wickets for just 25 runs. For Australia, Jake Doran (36) and captain Alex Gregory (31) were the only real contributors as they were toppled over for just 150 runs in 42.2 overs.

Earlier, a 105-run opening stand between captain Aiden Markram (45) and Clyde Fortuin (74) put South Africa on the path to a score of 250 and above, but Australia's spinners did well to pull them back and restrict them to a par score of 230 for nine.

Brief Scores:

South Africa: 230 for nine in 50 overs (Aiden Markram 45, Clyde Fortuin 74, Yaseen Valli 31; Billy Stanlake 2-36, Matthew Short 2-14, Ben Ashkenazi 2-37)

Australia: 150 all out in 42.2 overs (Jake Doran 36, Alex Gregory 31, James Bazley 22; Kagiso Rabada 6-25, Corbin Bosch 2-25, Yaseen Valli 1-27)

Photo Credit: icc.com