U-19 World Cup: India defeat Pakistan by 58 runs to seal semifinal spot

Bulawayo: India sealed its position at the top of its Super Sixes group and a slot in the semifinal of the ICC Under-19 World Cup 2026 with a 58-run victory over arch-rival Pakistan at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo on Sunday.

Knowing that it would need to win by a significant margin of victory in order to overhaul India’s Net Run Rate, Pakistan sent Ayush Mhatre’s side in to bat after winning the toss. Aaron George and Vaibhav Suryavanshi started brightly, but both fell along with Mhatre in a remarkable passage of play that saw India lose three wickets in four balls to Mohammad Sayyam and Abdul Subhan.

However, India’s innings was rescued by a smart fifty from Vedant Trivedi. Trivedi, who had not been among the runs until this point in the tournament, batted calmly and put on partnerships with Vihaan Malhotra, Abhigyan Kundu, and RS Ambrish to keep India fighting. Though all three would fall before reaching personal milestones, the collective effort was enough to help India reach a competitive total.

Kanishk Chouhan and Khilan put a finishing flourish on the innings with useful cameos as India ended its innings on 252 all out.

The NRR considerations meant that Pakistan had to reach its target in 33.3 overs in order to qualify for the semifinals, and its chase was dealt an early blow when Henil Patel removed Pakistan’s star batter Sameer Minhas for nine. What followed was a strange passage of play where Pakistan seemed to bat for victory without any consideration for its NRR.

Usman Khan scored a half-century, while Hamza Zahoor and Farhan Yousaf also made decent contributions, but by the time 33.3 over mark arrived, Pakistan was still nearly 100 runs shy of the target. Kanishk Chouhan was particularly impressive with the ball, taking one for 30 from his ten overs.

Things deteriorated further after Usman’s dismissal to Mhatre (one of his three wickets), as Pakistan crumbled from 159 for four to xx all out, sealing a 58-run defeat and confirming its elimination from the tournament. Agencies

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