Australian captain Mitchell Marsh ensured his team will meet Pakistan in the under-19 cricket World Cup final after starring in today's two-wicket defeat of Sri Lanka near Christchurch.
Marsh scored 97 and chimed in with three catches as his team squeaked past the Sri Lankans with nine balls to spare
to set up Saturday's final, also to be played at Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln.
Without the efforts of their skipper, the Australians may have struggled to overhaul Sri Lanka's total of 205, which was built around steadying knocks of 52 from allrounder Akshu Fernando and 40 from Kithuruwan Vithanage. New ball bowler Josh Hazlewood did the damage with the ball, claiming three early scalps and finishing with four for 26 off 8.2 overs.
Australia were teetering at 93 for five before Marsh combined with wicketkeeper Tom Triffitt for a 78-run stand that carried them within sight of victory. When Triffitt was the eighth batsman to fall, for 50, just four runs were needed.
Pakistan are unbeaten at the 16-national tournament while Australia have lost once, to South Africa in pool play.
Also in Lincoln today, South Africa secured fifth place with a six-wicket defeat of India in a playoff match. David White scored 77 and Dominic Hendricks 63 as the South Africans reached India's 239 for five with seven balls to spare.
Zimbabwe and United States picked up comfortable ranking wins in Plate Championship matches in Napier. Zimbabwe beat Hong Kong by 137 runs to finish in 13th place while the US placed 15th after thumping Afghanistan by nine wickets.
- NZPA
