Pak out despite win over India

Pakistan enjoyed victory over India on Thursday but suffered the heartbreak of being knocked out of the ICC Under-19 World Cup due to the West Indies' win against Sri Lanka.

India went into the game in supreme form after beating Sri Lanka and the West Indies with ease, but failed to hold their nerve against their arch rivals and lost by two wickets.

The match of the tournament saw India and Pakistan renew their rivalry on the cricket field after an 18-month gap.

India has banned its players from facing Pakistan at international level due to the current tensions between the two countries.

As a result, their clash at the youth World Cup offered a rare glimpse of one of the biggest grudge matches in world sport.

Pakistan missed out on a bonus point and the West Indies' 62-run mauling of Sri Lanka earned them a spot in the semi-finals as Gus Logie's team were the victors when the two sides met earlier this week.

The cricket between Pakistan and India was frenetic, but after the match both sides embraced and the atmosphere was friendly.

Pakistan got off to a good start as India could only muster 181 from their 50 overs with fast bowler Junaid Zia particularly impressive with his control and pace.

Deepak Chougule hit 47 but a late innings collapse, that saw the final five wickets fall for just 39 runs, ultimately cost India the match.

India reduced Pakistan to 10 for 2 but Salman Butt played a captain's innings to rescue his side. Butt hit 11 fours in his unbeaten 85 as off-spinner Rajesh Sharma (3 for 37) bowled superbly to give India a chance of victory.

Butt brought about the end of the match when he hit Sharma for four, however, he was to learn his efforts had been in vain due to the West Indies' victory at Hagley Park.

"We are very disappointed to be out of the cup but we knew it would be close and our performance against the West Indies cost us," Butt said.

"This was a tense match but we showed excellent temperament and played really well".

"The important thing is that we have made some new friends today. This is only a game and we wanted to make sure it was played in the right spirit. They are going to go into their senior side and so are we, which is why we wanted to make friends and not enemies."

India coach Dilip Vengsarkar was disappointed by his side's defeat but took consolation from the fact they topped group one.

"Pakistan played very well and they held their nerve," he said. "It was a good toss to win as the conditions in the morning made it very hard for us to score runs, but we did not make a good enough total. We need to work on a few areas before the next match."

Sri Lanka's disappointing Super League campaign ended in a third consecutive loss with the West Indies ambling to victory to become surprise semi-finalists.

Scores:

Pakistan beat India by two wickets. India 181 all out in 48.5 overs, Pakistan 184-8 in 43.4 overs (Salman Butt 85 not out).

West Indies beat Sri Lanka by 62 runs. West Indies 202 all out in 47.5 overs (Donovan Pagon 92, Narsinghe Deonarine 65), Sri Lanka 140 all out in 47 overs.

Plate Championship group one:

Kenya beat Papua New Guinea by 25 runs. Kenya 236-8 (Morris Ouma 150 not out; Gimapau Kiemelo 4-23), Papua New Guinea 211 all out (Clive Elly 60).

Zimbabwe beat Bangladesh by nine wickets. Bangladesh 91 all out (Tatenda Taibu 3-8), Zimbabwe 94-1 (Charles Coventry 51).

Mail Cricket Editor