Rediff

Kuala Lumpur, Feb 28: India survived a late scare to beat New Zealand by three wickets to book a berth for the title clash of the Under-19 cricket World Cup in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.

In a thrilling rain-curtailed semi-final, the Kiwis rode on middle order batsman Corey Anderson's 68-ball 70 to score a modest 205 for eight in 50 overs after electing to bat.

However, the target became slightly stiffer for the Indians after it was reset at 191 in 43 overs due to rain interruption.

Opener Sreevats Goswami (51 off 76 balls) and captain Virat Kohli (43 off 53 balls) played sensible knocks to lay the foundation for India's win, which was achieved in 41.3 overs at the expense of seven wickets.

Even though India's firebrand pacer Pradeep Sangwan could not taste success today, other bowlers stuck to their task to check the New Zealanders from scoring freely and also took wickets at regular intervals.

New ball bowler Ajitesh Argal provided the early breakthrough to India as he claimed opener George Worker (3).

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja breached Michael Guptill-Bunce's (11) defence to apply further brakes on the slow scoring rate of the New Zealanders.

Ken Williamson (37) and Fraser Colson (32) then consolidated the New Zealand innings by putting up a vital 57-run partnership for the third wicket.

Indian skipper Kohli took up the responsibility and rolled his arm with his medium pace to remove both the set batsmen, who were threatening to build a bigger stand.

That, however, was not the end of the Kiwi resistance as Corey Anderson blasted 70 runs, including six boundaries and four sixes, in no time to take his team to a respectable total.

Anderson gathered 58 runs for the seventh wicket with M Bracewell (17 not out) before falling to Tanmay Srivastava in the 49th over.

Kohli (2/27), S Kaul (2/43) and Srivastava (2/46) were the main wicket-takers for India.

During the run chase, India lost two of its reliable batsmen -- Taruwar Kohli (10) and Srivastava (13) -- cheaply, but wicketkeeper-batsman Goswami and Virat Kohli steadied the boat by adding 84 runs for the third wicket.

Both Goswami and Virat Kohli hit five boundaries each in their knocks.

Goswami was castled by Kiwi bowling spearhead Tim Southee, while Virat Kohli was caught by Williamson off George Worker.

The Indians were cruising to victory with 11 required off 21 balls with five wickets in hand. But suddenly, the Kiwis piled pressure and were able to notch up two quick wickets to provide a few jittery moments for their rivals.

But, middle order batsman Saurabh Tiwary (29 not out off 41 balls) held his nerve to see the Indians through.

Southee was the pick of the New Zealand bowlers with figures of 4 for 29.

Virat Kohli was adjudged player of the match for his all-round performance.

Brief scores: New Zealand 205 for 8 in 50 overs (Corey Anderson 70, K Williamson 37, Fraser Colson 32; Virat Kohli 2/27, Siddarth Kaul 2/43, T Srivastava 2/46)

India 191 for 7 in 41.3 overs (Sreevats Goswami 51, Virat Kohli 43; T Southee 4/ 29).