ANTIGUA: India qualified to their eighth ICC Under 19 Men's Cricket World Cup final with a 96-run victory against Australia, and will meet England in the championship match.

After a shaky start for the Men in Blue, Shaik Rasheed and Yash Dhull put on the tournament's second-highest partnership, adding 204 runs for the third wicket.

Australia never got going in their reply to 290, with leading wicket-taker Vicky Ostwal taking 3 for 42, and Australia eventually bowled out for 194.

They will now face Afghanistan in the 3rd/4th place play-off on Friday, followed by the grand final on Saturday between England and India.

India reach a fourth consecutive final

India become the first team in #U19CWC history to qualify for four consecutive finals ???? pic.twitter.com/KNVU6tEPKT

— ICC (@ICC) February 2, 2022

After winning the toss and electing to bat, India's openers Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Harnoor Singh added only 16 runs in 7.4 overs before the former was dismissed by a pearler from William Salzmann.

Raghuvanshi was playing a shot when the right-arm seamer deceived him with a length ball, and the ball uprooted his off stump.

Singh would come next, having made 16 off 28 balls, before Shaik Rasheed and captain Yash Dhull put on a strong third-wicket stand, reaching their fifty partnership off 78 balls.

Dhull then began to find the boundary with increasing regularity, taking advantage of Salzmann's errant bowling.

Rasheed joined the skipper on a half-century as India passed 150 with only two wickets down. The pair then passed 140 runs between them, and Australia missed a golden opportunity to end the partnership.

The pressure told as the ball ballooned on its way to the stumps, and India survived. Salzmann found the ball in his hand with the chance to secure a near-certain run-out, but the pressure told as the ball ballooned on its way to the stumps, and India survived.

Dhull then scored his first century for India, coming off 106 balls, and the 200-run partnership came shortly after.

Australia would then secure their run out when Dhull was forced to go for a run-a-ball 110 before Rasheed was out the very next ball, six runs short of his own century.

However, Australia's luck did not improve as the final over went for 27 runs, allowing India to register an impressive 290/5.

The dangerous Teague Wyllie was out leg before wicket for one run in the second over, curtailing Australia's chances as they emerged from the powerplay only three runs ahead of India, who had still to get going.

Corey Miller would perish in the same manner as Wyllie, but not before putting on 38 from 46 balls to help Australia reach 71 for two in the 17th over.

Vicky Ostwal then added to his tally as India's leading wicket-taker in the tournament (now 12), dismissing opener Campbell Kellaway for 30 as he drove straight to Nishant Sindhu.

It was now up to Australian skipper Cooper Connolly to match his counterpart, but he could only score three runs as he top-edged a looping catch to Rasheed.

Instead, Lachlan Shaw was tasked with steering Australia to an increasingly implausible run chase, but he was unable to find a partner as the next three batsmen fell cheaply, leaving Australia on 125 for seven.

Australia's first six came in the 37th over, compared to India's 44th, but the very next ball ended their eighth-wicket stand, which had added 42 runs.

Milestones continued to result in dismissals, with Lachlan Shaw being dismissed five balls after reaching his half-century as Ravi Kumar took his second wicket.

Tailender Tom Whitney put up considerable resistance, including slamming back-to-back sixes, but was run out, effectively ending his team's title hopes.

With India's victory, the two unbeaten teams will meet on February 5 at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua and Barbuda.

Edited - SportsAction / Inputs - Agency