Anmolpreet, Sarfaraz guide India to fifth Under-19 World Cup final

India will make their fifth Under-19 Cup final appearance on February 14 (Sunday) as a strong batting display helped the three-time champions out-muscle Sri Lanka in a 97-run victory in the semifinal at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Dhaka on Tuesday. India will face the winner of the second semifinal between Bangladesh and West Indies for the title.

Anmolpreet Singh, playing in his second game of the tournament, made the most of the opportunity to score a excellently-timed 72 while Sarfaraz kept his fine nick going with his fourth half-century of the tournament. No team had chased down a total in excess of 250 against India in an Under-19 World Cup semifinal before and Sri Lanka, too, failed in the face of the arduous task.

On a day when the sun played peekaboo from behind grey, dark clouds, Sri Lanka opted to field. A generous amount of green cover on the unused track in Mirpur gave Charith Asalanka enough reasons to take such a punt against a side renowned for its batting. Asitha Fernando, his strike fast bowler, and Lahiru Kumara justified their captain's call by surprising Ishan Kishan and Rishabh Pant - India's left-handed opening duo - with extra pace and bounce.

Both were guilty of not weighing up the early conditions and playing away from their body on a track where the two pacers got the ball to move away. India were down to 27 for 2 in the 10th over when Anmolpreet and Sarfaraz came together to forge a key 96-run partnership for the third wicket.

With spin operating from both ends, Sarfaraz and Anmolpreet started out cautiously in their attempt to construct India's essay. They did not show any sense of urgency to accelerate and were content at holding onto their wickets and keeping the scorecard ticking, an approach Kishan had talked up in several press conferences before. Asalanka's tweakers, who enjoyed instant success against England's brittle batting line-up, were made to toil hard. The moment they would stray in their length, both batsmen would latch onto it and cut behind point. In the 22nd over, Sarfaraz guided a quicker, flatter delivery from Damitha Silva, Sri Lanka's off-spinner, behind point for a boundary to become the fourth Indian - after Vijay Zol, Tanmay Srivatsava and Unmukt Chand - to score 1,000 runs in Under-19 ODI matches.

In what was starting to build on as a chance-less partnership, Thilan Nimesh came the closest to providing a breakthrough in the 27th over. Sarfaraz's attempt to sweep a tossed up delivery resulted in a top-edge as it ballooned over his head and beat the short third man fielder to the boundary. An over later, Sarfaraz charged down the track and smashed Damitha inside over for a six over extra cover to bring up his fourth 50-plus score of the tournament.

After 18 successive overs of spin that did not yield a wicket, Asalanka turned back to Asitha, who struck immediately. Sarfaraz, who had slowly started to shift gears, looked to take on the pacer rightaway and perished in the process, for 59. Anmolpreet assumed the role of the senior partner as Washington Sundar walked out ahead of Armaan Jaffer at No. 5. The BCCI Under-19 Cricketer of the Year 2014-15 went past his fifty and looked set to steer India to a strong finish. Unfortunately for him, an umpiring error resulted in his departure. With an aim to put his foot on the accelerator, Anmolpreet looked to play his shots and attempted a clumsy-looking paddle sweep off Nimesh. The bowler and the wicketkeeper went up in appeal. even as there wasn't an edge. He subtly hinted to the umpire that it had gone off his sleeve. Replays showed he was right but the umpire raised his finger and he was on his way for a 92-ball 72.

Jaffer entered the fray with India needing to sprint to a finish. The classical Mumbai batsman, in his brief stay at the wicket, batted out of his skin as he and Sundar took India past 200. India lost six wickets in the final ten overs but also took 89 runs as Mahipal Lomror (11 off 8 balls) and Mayank Dagar (17 off 10 balls) threw their bat around for valuable runs towards the end and take the team to 267 for 9.

Sri Lanka had a nightmarish start to their chase as Avishka Fernando, the centurion against England, was robbed of an opportunity to score big again as he was adjudged leg before off an Avesh Khan delivery in the first over, that would've missed the leg stump. The early wicket unsettled the Sri Lankan batsmen and it reflected in their miscommunication and tentativeness. India capitalised on the batsmen's hesitation as Avesh ran Kaveen Bandara out at the striker's end in just the fourth over.

Charith Asalanka laid the foundation for rescue work in the company of Mendis, but Kishan's bowling change ended that endeavour. Rahul Batham has been Kishan's inspired first-change bowler and has made immediate impact in the few opportunities he has got. Like he did against Namibia in the quarterfinal, Batham picked up the big wicket of Asalanka. The Sri Lankan captain seemed to have cracked under the pressure, playing a cross-batted hoick straight to mid-on.

Captain's departure brought Shammu Ashan, the vice-captain the crease. He and Mendis slowly rebuilt with a 49-run stand, but Mayank Dagar lured the latter to play a false shot and sent him packing in the 24th over. India have been an excellent fielding side in the tournament, but saw a brief period of oddity when Avesh put down a regulation catch and Kishan misfielded inside the circle.

The Indian captain however, recovered right away and forced a run out that ended Ashan's vigil. There was not much fight left in the lower order as the asking rate began to climb. Dagar, who was the pick of the bowlers, wrapped up the final two wickets in the 43rd over to complete India's dominating win.

Brief Scores: India U19 267 for 9 in 50 Overs (Anmolpreet Singh 72, Sarfaraz Khan 59; Asitha Fernando 4-43, Lahiru Kumara 2-50, Thilan Nimesh 2-50) beat Sri Lanka U19 170 in 42.4 Overs (Kamindu Mendis 39, Shammu Ashan 38; Mayank Dagar 3-21, Avesh Khan 2-41) by 97 runs.