Bulawayo: England cruised into the ICC Men’s Under-19 World Cup final by 27 runs after beating Australia in the first semi-final at the Queen’s Sports Club on Tuesday.
Batting first, England amassed 277-7 in 50 overs thanks to a brilliant century from captain Thomas Reve and key contributions from Caleb Falconer, Joseph Moores, Ben Mayes and Farhan Ahmed.
Rev scored 110 off 107 balls including 14 fours and a six. Falconer added 40 off 53 balls while Farhan remained unbeaten on 28 off 26 balls.
Moores and Mayes scored 25 and 24 respectively.
For Australia, Nathan Currey and Hayden Schiller took 2 wickets each and Will Byrom and Aryan Sharma took one wicket each.
In reply, Australia were bowled out for 250 in 47.3 overs despite a brave century from captain Oliver Peak, who hit 100 off 88 balls with 10 fours and a six.
Nitesh Samuel scored 47 off 83 balls and Aryan Sharma added 34 off 23 balls, but the rest of the batting line-up faltered.
England’s bowlers took full advantage of the situation, with Ralphie Albert, Manny Lumston, James Minto, and Sebastian Morgan claiming two wickets each, and Alex French and Farhan Ahmed taking one each.
The Lions will now play the winner of the second semi-final between India and Afghanistan in the final, scheduled for Friday in Harare.