Pakistan Under 19 neither succeeded in qualifying for the semi-under 1final nor managed a win against India Under 19 in the  last Super Sixes match of the Under 19 World Cup. Two absolute points and significant net-run-rate points behind India, Pakistan needed to chase down the target of 253 in 33.3 overs, but they never quite went for that outrageous chase on a difficult surface with variable bounce. However, as the game got deeper, the pitch got more and more difficult to bat on, scuttling even the regulation chase, which looked good till 33.3 overs.

India needed a win to end as their group leaders and thus get Afghanistan in the semi-final in Harare while a defeat after 33.3 overs would have pitted them against Australia on the same tired square in the semi-final in Bulawayo. In the end, the depth in India’s line-up trumped Pakistan, who had looked dominant in the early goings in both the innings.

Pakistan had India down at 47 for 3 and 200 for 7, but just couldn’t restrict them to a manageable chase. Vedant Trivedi  shored India up with 68 off 98, and then the lower order all contributed: No. 8 Kanishk Chouhan scored 35, No. 7  RS Ambrish hung around for 29, and even No. 9 Khilan Patel  hit 21 off 15. It didn’t help that Pakistan were slow in the field, and had to bowl the last four overs with an extra fielder inside the 30-yard circle: 39 runs came off these overs even though India didn’t have wickets in hand.

With the bat, Pakistan got off to a sprightly start, but the dip in quality of batting was quite steep after No. 4. That’s possibly why they didn’t go all out for the qualification. India, on the other hand, had plenty of defensive spin options, which proved to be valuable on a pitch that offered them a lot of turn in the afternoon.

India will look back at a game in which they were tactically superior even though the opposition dominated the early goings. They read the conditions better, deciding to bat first, but it never came to pass as Pakistan won the toss and decided to chase anyway. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi went after the new ball during his 30 off 22, but when they lost three wickets for the score of 47, Trivedi and Vihaan Malhotra dug in, knowing any score over 200 would make it extremely difficult for any outrageous chase. Even with the ball, they bowled defensively to first make sure they qualified and just burst through the narrow opening provided when Pakistan captain Farhan Yousaf was caught at long-on to make it 151 for 3 in 29.4 overs.

Tom Banton’s clinical half-century and a breathless Harry Brook cameo gave England an unassailable 2-0 lead over Sri Lanka, and left them with a problem of plenty ahead of the start of the T20 World Cup  next weekend.

England’s solid start in an attempt to chase 190 was interrupted for more than an hour by unexpected rain in Pallekelle,  and they were set a stiff DLS-adjusted equation of 111 more runs off the last 9.4 overs when the weather cleared. But Banton’s 54 not out off 29 balls – his first England fifty in four years – and Brook’s 36 off 12 saw them home with two balls unused.

Banton, an opener by trade, has been fashioned into a finisher since returning to the England side last summer and looked like a placeholder for the injured Ben Duckett when picked at No. 4 for this series. But he has been a cut above his England team-mates when facing Sri Lanka’s spinners and will be hard to leave out even when Duckett’s bruised finger has recovered.

For all the doom and gloom in English cricket after another Ashes debacle in Australia, England have now won nine of their last 10 completed T20Is since Brook took over as captain last summer and will head into their opening match against Nepal next week confident that they can mount a genuine challenge for the World Cup title that they surrendered two years ago.