PremiumIND U19 vs SA U19 - Murugan Abhishek's superb blinder sends back dangerous Lhuan-dre Pretorius in the U19 World Cup semi-final
Lhuan-dre Pretorius had reached his classy half-century - his third consecutive 50 in this tournament - in 59 balls.
Last Updated: 04.04 PM, Feb 06, 2024
In the ICC U19 World Cup 2024 semi-final between India and South Africa, Proteas batsman Lhuan-dre Pretorius went on a roll despite losing his opening partner and one-down batsman early. He reached his classy half-century - his third consecutive 50 in this tournament - in 59 balls, and the Indian side needed to stop him somehow.
Soon, Indian captain Uday Pratap Saharan brought in Musheer Khan, and his bowling did wonders as he broke the partnership and dismissed the dangerous Lhuan-dre Pretorius. However, it was thanks to Murugan Abhishek's reflexes that India got the wicket.
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The ball was whipped powerfully off the pads and flew like a rocket to short midwicket, where Murugan Abhishek showed very sharp reflexes and took a superb catch. Musheer struck and was pumped. However, Pretorius stood in disbelief after Abhishek pulled off the superb catch, throwing his bat in the air before walking back for 76 (102) [4s-6, 6s-3].
Netizens took to social media, particularly X (formerly known as Twitter), to praise Abhishek's brilliant fielding.
In the clash, India won the toss and opted to field first against South Africa in the first semi-final of the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2024 at Willowmoore Park in Benoni. After 36 overs, the host nation had scored 134 runs and lost three wickets.
Defending champions India have been at their dominating best in the tournament so far, winning all five of their matches convincingly. They secured easy victories against their opponents, with three wins by a margin of over 200 runs.
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On the other hand, South Africa has stumbled only once in the tournament – against England in the group stages. However, since then, they have recovered and won the rest of their matches.
Playing XI Squads:
India U19: Adarsh Singh, Arshin Kulkarni, Musheer Khan, Uday Saharan (c), Priyanshu Moliya, Sachin Dhas, Aravelly Avanish (wk), Murugan Abhishek, Raj Limbani, Naman Tiwari, Saumy Pandey
South Africa U19: Lhuan-dre Pretorius (wk), Steve Stolk, David Teeger, Richard Seletswane, Dewan Marais, Juan James (c), Oliver Whitehead, Riley Norton, Tristan Luus, Nqobani Mokoena, Kwena Maphaka