Trivedi, spinners lead charge as Pakistan surrender in chase

India stitched together a disciplined, low-drama performance with both bat and ball to outlast Pakistan and become the fourth and final side to book a place in the semifinals of the 2026 Under-19 World Cup, setting up a clash against Afghanistan. A measured half-century from Vedant Trivedi, late-order enterprise, and a composed spin choke led by captain Ayush Mhatre proved enough on a tricky Queens Sports Club surface in Bulawayo, where Pakistan's chase never quite found clarity or conviction.

India's 252 owed as much to restraint as it did to the closing flourish. Trivedi anchored the innings with a patient 68, while Kanishk Chouhan and Khilan Patel supplied the late thrust to lift India from par to pressing. In response, Pakistan were bundled out for 194, undone by indecision as much as by India's spinners, who extracted just enough grip and guile to keep the asking rate inching beyond reach.

Yet the defining thread of the contest lay in Pakistan's curious approach to the chase. There was Net Run Rate in play and chasing 252 in 33.3 overs would have secured qualification. Pakistan, however, appeared to choose to pursue victory alone and ended up with neither. The innings slowed, stalled, and eventually unravelled.

The opening exchanges suggested intent. After Sameer Minhas fell early, Hamza Zahoor counter-punched briskly, racing to 42 off 49 balls with eight boundaries, while Usman Khan settled in alongside him. Pakistan surged to 56 for 1 in the PowerPlay and appeared well placed to recalibrate. Even a straightforward chance put down at long leg off Usman Khan gave them another lease.

But spin shifted the rhythm decisively. Zahoor's dismissal, bowled attempting to sweep Chouhan, triggered a retreat rather than a reset. Pakistan chose to dig in, dot balls piling up as qualification drifted into the background. Across the first 21 overs, they played 80 dots, and when Farhan Yousaf finally struck two fours off Deepesh Devendran in the 22nd, it snapped a 35-ball boundary drought.

Usman anchored from one end, while Yousaf briefly injected momentum with a run-a-ball 38 before perishing to a slower ball from RS Ambrish. By then, the chase had lost urgency and purpose in equal measure.

Sensing the moment, Mhatre brought himself on and struck immediately, finding dip and turn to prise out Ahmed Hussain's edge first ball. Usman followed soon after for a laborious 66 off 92, trapped lbw attempting a sweep, although replays later suggesting a faint inside edge onto pad. When Vihaan Malhotra dismissed Ali Hassan Baloch, even the distant hope of victory vanished. Pakistan lost their last six wickets for 26 runs, the innings ending with a quiet collapse rather than a final push.

Earlier, India's innings had followed a similar arc of early promise, sudden peril, and eventual recovery. Vaibhav Suryavanshi burst out of the blocks, smashing five fours and a six in a 22-ball 30 as India raced to 47. Then, in a blur of five deliveries, Pakistan struck thrice.

Mohammad Sayyam led the surge, first inducing a faint botom edge from Suryavanshi with a short ball, then removing Mhatre for a two-ball duck with one that nipped away. Abdul Subhan added to the wobble, producing a peach first up to Aaron George that clipped the top of off. At 47 for 3, India were suddenly unsteady.

Trivedi and Malhotra restored order with a watchful 62-run stand, prioritising survival on a surface that offered little for strokeplay. Trivedi's half-century - 68 off 98 balls - was an exercise in patience, featuring just two fours and a six, but it held the innings together.

A no-ball reprieve gave Abhigyan Kundu a second life, though he failed to capitalise, falling for 16. At 182 for 6 in the 41st over, India looked light. Then came the decisive surge. Chouhan and Patel launched a fearless assault at the death, plundering 50 runs in 31 balls to tilt the contest. Even as Subhan finished with two more wickets in the final over, India had climbed to 252, a total that proved more than enough against a team that had recently outplayed them in the Asia Cup final but chose to retreat in a World Cup match of greater consequence.

Brief scores: India 252 in 49.5 overs (Vedant Trivedi 68, Kanishk Chouhan 35; Abdul Subhan 3-33) beat Pakistan 194 in 46.2 overs (Usman Khan 66; Ayush Mhatre 3-21, Khilan Patel 3-35) by 58 runs