Australia secured victory in the Under-19 World Cup semi-final in fortuitous fashion, with an inside-edge flying past the stumps for four, but Pakistan were partly architects of their own downfall, and an ICC rule to punish bad over-rates proved crucial.
The game was a heart-stopping one, Australia surviving a late fightback to inch home in the final over with one wicket to spare. It is perhaps understandable that Pakistan captain Saad Baig took his time setting his fields and changing his bowlers, but it had an unintended consequence – by the end of the 49th over, Pakistan had exceeded their cut-off time, and fell foul of an ICC rule intended to punish slow play.
Introduced in early 2022, the rule states that for any overs a fielding team bowls outside of the agreed cut-off, once any allowances are taken into account, they have to have one fewer fielder outside of the inner circle.
The last over began with Australia needing four runs to win and Pakistan one wicket away. However, with Pakistan deemed to have exceeded the cut-off, they were forced to bring an extra fielder in. Ian Bishop, on commentary, speculated that, had the cut-off not been breached, they would have had a fielder on the fine-leg fence, and the winning boundary would have been kept to a single.
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Pakistan also had a moment of fortune in terms of the umpires’ rulings. Ali Raza, the 15-year-old quick whose double-wicket over nearly turned the game in his side’s favour, was allowed to continue bowling despite delivering two high full tosses. Only the second, at the body of the Australia batter, was deemed dangerous by the umpires, leading to a warning.
Australia will face India in the final on Sunday, February 11, India having triumphed in their own thriller over South Africa by two wickets.
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