Pakistan nosed ahead of India in the crucial Super Sixes contest in the 2026 Under-19 World Cup following a dramatic four-ball phase of cricket.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Aaron George, the Indian openers, began well against Ali Raza and Mohammad Sayyam after Pakistan captain Farhan Yousaf won the toss and opted to field at the Queen’s Sports Club in Bulawayo.
Suryavanshi dismissal triggers collapse
India were 47-0 in 7.2 overs when Suryavanshi tried to loft a short-pitched ball outside the off-stump from Sayyam but could only top-edge towards square-leg, where Huzaifa Ahsan dropped the catch. Having picked up the ball, Huzaifa realised that Suryavanshi had left the crease, but wicketkeeper Hamza Zahoor was not at his position: he had rushed to take the catch as well.
Huzaifa still threw the ball but missed the stumps. The fielder sprinting in from the leg-side towards the stumps could not gather the ball, and Suryavanshi returned to the crease. The double reprieve didn't cost Pakistan much, though.
Sayyam pitched the very next ball short again. This time Suryavanshi (30 in 22 balls) attempted to pull, but the ball caught the bottom edge of his bat, and Hamza held a low catch. Two balls later, Sayyam produced a peach that moved away, took the outside edge of captain Ayush Mhatre’s bat, and Hamza held his second catch. To add to the drama, the umpires stopped Mhatre to check the Sayyam's front-foot, only to find that he had landed inside the popping crease by the barest of margins.
At the other end, Farhan replaced Raza with Abdul Subhan, who bowled his first ball on a good length on the stumps. George (16) tried to defend, but the ball held its line and sped past his bat to hit off-stump.
Super 6 - Match 12, India Under-19 vs Pakistan Under-19
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India, 47-3 in 8.1 overs at that point, were 75-3 in 15 overs at the time of writing with Vedant Trivedi (15) and Vihaan Malhotra (8) at the crease.
It is worth a mention that to qualify for the semi-finals, all India need is a win, whereas Pakistan will require to win by a huge margin: click here for the complete equation.
