Shubman Gill scored a magnificent unbeaten hundred and Ishan Porel bagged four wickets as India easily beat Pakistan by 203 runs in the second semi-final of the ICC Under-19 World Cup at the Hagley Oval, in Christchurch, on Tuesday.
Chasing 273 for victory, Pakistan were dismissed for 69 runs in 29.3 overs, right-arm medium pacer Porel finishing with figures of 4 for 17 from six overs, three of which were maidens.
Only Rohail Nazil (18) and Saad Khan (15) could get into double digit scores after Porel dismissed Pakistan openers Imran Shah (2) and Muhammad Zaid (7) inside the first six overs.
India will meet Australia in the final on February 3, in what will be a repeat of the 2012 edition which India won in Australia.
India have won the tournament three times -- in 2000 (under Mohammed Kaif), 2008 (Virat Kohli) and 2012 (Unmukt Chand) while losing two finals in 2006 (Cheteshwar Pujara) and 2016 (Ishan Kishan).
In scoring 102 off 94 balls, in India's total of 272 for 9, Gill became India’s first centurion in the tournament and guided the team to healthy total after the Pakistani pacers dealt successive blows in the middle overs.
After India elected to bat, openers Prithvi Shaw (41) and Manoj Kalra (47) put on a stand of 89 runs before the former was run-out.
Two overs later Kalra departed with the 94 runs on the board, but Gill in the company of Harvik Desai (20) steadied the innings.
Arshad Iqbal (3/51) then rattled India, claiming the wickets of Riyan Parag (2) and Abhishek Sharma (5), before Ankul Sudhakar Roy (33) and Gill put the innings back on track.
Gill did most of the scoring, putting on 54 with Desai to revive the innings after the openers’ dismissal, and a crucial 67 with Roy, who himself plundered the Pakistan bowlers in the final stretch.
Roy was caught behind down the leg side off Musa, but Gill carried on to complete his century in dramatic circumstances.
He was on 99, got on strike with one delivery remaining, and got to three figures after being dropped by Hassan Khan in the deep.
It turned out that the delivery was a no-ball, although India could yield just one run from the free-hit.
"It was an outstanding performance from the bowlers as well as the batsmen. I am very satisfied with the performance. I am expecting an exciting contest against Australia in the final. I would also like to thank the crowd for their support," skipper Prithvi Shaw said after the match.
