The semi final of a World Cup is just the kind of stage that separates the men from the boys. This is especially so when the match in question is part of the Youth World Cup. At the P Saravanamuthu Stadium in Colombo, Australia and India locked horns in a semi final clash that would decide who would take on the hosts Sri Lanka. Winning the toss, India elected to bat first on a wicket that looked like it would crumble later on.

The Indian openers Manish Sharma and Ravneet Ricky got India off to a solid start, putting up 124 runs for the first wicket in just over thirty overs. At the fall of the first wicket, the captain, Mohammed Kaif walked out to the middle and went with the flow. Having secured a stable start, Kaif worked the ball around, building on an already good platform. When Kaif was dismissed with the score just over two hundred, it looked like the Indians might be restricted to a score under 250.

However, one man changed the face of that innings. Yubvraj Singh walked in oozing confidence, twirling his bat in the air in preparation for what was to be the final assault. He began slowly, tapping the ball into the gaps for a couple of singles. In the very next over, Yuvraj began to dominate, hitting Watson for a huge six over long on. Watson's full toss was picked up and hit cleanly out of the ground. He followed that up with a crisp hit to the midwicket boundary for four. The fireworks had started.

Soon after, all hell broke loose. Yuvraj Singh began to see the ball very clearly. Too clearly for the Australians' liking. The bowlers rhythm was completely destroyed and they began to deliver fulltoss after to fulltoss to Yuvraj. The lad from Patiala had no trouble in despatching the full tosses to the boudary. More often than not, he hit it clear over the ropes, picking up six instead of four. He brought up easily the fastest fifty of the tournament off only 20 balls, having been at the wicket for just 27 minutes. His innings included five sixes and four boundaries.

The innings took India well past any score they might have thought possible. India ended with 284/6, and Yuvraj had made the most spectacular impact on everyone at the ground. No other performance however good would match the pyrotechnics that this lad could conjure up. His innings had destroyed Australia's morale. In the 27 minutes that he spent at the crease, Yuvraj put the game well out of reach of the Australians. Truly a match winning performance, Yuvraj Singh had knocked Australia well and truly out of the World Cup.

Under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka, Jan 2000

2nd Semi-Final: Australia Under-19s v India Under-19s at Colombo (Sara), 25 Jan 2000
[Scorecard | Report | Over Graph | Run Rate Comparison]

Interview with Yuvraj Singh. [Listen]