India vs Australia Highlights, U19 World Cup semifinal: India beat Australia by 96 runs to reach fourth consecutive final

Shaik Rasheed collects his first boundary of the day. Tom Whitney pitches the ball up and Rasheed just chips it over the bowler and it races to the fence down the ground. Nicely timed! IND 23/1 after 8.4 overs

A peach of a delivery from William Salzmann. He strikes in his first over. Castles Angkrish Raghuvanshi for 6. Bowls from wide of the crease and the ball just nips away after pitching. Raghuvanshi is squared up as the ball hits the top of his off stump. A jaffa from Salzmann as India lose their first wicket. IND 16/1 after 7.4 overs

Four overs from Tom Whitney and 3 from Jack Nisbet so far as both the Aussie pacers have been right on the money at the start of this high-octane clash. India openers Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Harnoor Singh off to a sedate start in this second semifinal. Both looking pretty cautious at the moment. IND 15/0 after 7 overs

Sweetly timed! First boundary of the semifinal for India. Tom Whitney strays into the pads of Harnoor Singh as he comfortably clips the ball to the deep square-leg fence. IND 9/0 after 2.5 overs

A decent first over from Tom Whitney. Just a couple of runs came off it, including an extra. Jack Nisbet to share the ball with Whitney from the other end. IND 2/0 after 1 over

Matches - 7 | India won - 5 | Australia won - 2

Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Harnoor Singh are in the middle to begin India's innings. Tom Whitney to start the proceedings for Australia. Two slips in place for Whitney. Raghuvanshi on strike. Here we go!

Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Harnoor Singh, Shaik Rasheed, Yash Dhull(c), Nishant Sindhu, Raj Bawa, Kaushal Tambe, Dinesh Bana(w), Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Vicky Ostwal, Ravi Kumar

Campbell Kellaway, Teague Wyllie, Corey Miller, Cooper Connolly(c), Lachlan Shaw, Nivethan Radhakrishnan, William Salzmann, Tobias Snell(w), Jack Sinfield, Tom Whitney, Jack Nisbet

India U19 skipper Yash Dhull wins the toss and decides to bat first against Australia in the second semifinal in Antigua.

India had earlier beaten Australia in the warm-up game.

As far as Australia are concerned, the two-time champions will be on a high after their convincing win over Pakistan in the quarters. Australia have a superstar in the making in opener Teague Wyllie. The 17-year-old has been one of the stars of the World Cup so far, showcasing his impressive array of shots and an attacking yet controlled temperament. And the Western Australian youngster has no shortage of self-confidence either, making him an all-round package with every chance of making it in the international game. Wyllie was at his fluent best against Pakistan, helping his side get off to a terrific start as he stroked eight fours in an impressive 97-ball 71 India will be wary of him.

India have a strong batting presence with the likes of Harnoor Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Raj Bawa, who broke Shikhar Dhawan's record for the highest individual score by an Indian batter at the U-19 World Cup with his 162 not out against Uganda, shouldering the responsibility, besides skipper Dhull and Rasheed. In fact, it was Dhull who set the tone for the team with his solid 82 against South Africa in their tournament opener. The bowling department is taken care of by left-arm pacer Ravi Kumar, who wreaked havoc in a five-over spell to leave Bangladesh struggling at 14/3, right-arm seamer Rajvardhan Hangargekar, spinners Vicky Ostwal and Kaushal Tambe, besides medium pacer Bawa.

Despite missing many first XI players, India put up huge totals against Ireland (307/5) and Uganda (405/), and registered their biggest ever victory terms of runs against the African team. Now up against a formidable Australian side, India will take confidence from the fact that they made the semifinals with wins on the trot despite the challenges posed the virus.

India are now back to full strength and in another good news, Nishant Sindhu has recovered from COVID-19 and will be available for selection for the all-important semifinal.

But a spirited India got the better of all the challenges thrown at them and soundly defeated Ireland and Uganda before prevailing over Bangladesh by five wickets in a tricky chase in their quarterfinal match on a surface that was not conducive for playing strokes.

Five members of the squad were unavailable for their second group clash, against Ireland on January 19 after a COVID outbreak. Captain Yash Dhull, his deputy Shaik Rasheed, Aaradhya Yadav, Manav Parakh and Siddarth Yadav were part of that group and missed both the Ireland and Uganda fixtures, forcing the BCCI to fly in reinforcements. India were without many players for their match with Uganda and had to call in six reserves to play with the non-infected members of their squad.