England came through a close contest with reigning champions India to book their place in the last four of the Under-19 World Cup in Dubai.
Both sides were evenly matched and it showed as it went down to the wire with England requiring four runs from the final over.
With the field coming in close to prevent any quick singles, Rob Sayer would smash the first ball of the over to the boundary to hand England a hugely impressive victory.
England had made the perfect start as they reduced India to 24-4, thanks to a superb spell of bowling from 16-year-old fast bowler Matt Fisher.
The Yorkshireman was creating havoc thanks to his ability to swing the ball away from the right handers, dismissing Akhil Herwadkar, Ricky Bhui and the dangerous Sanju Samson.
Samson had excelled throughout the group stage of the competition but he last just one ball as Fisher found the outside edge and Ben Duckett claimed the catch at first slip.
Fellow quick Jack Winslade had claimed the first wicket of the day in just the second over but once the two seamers made way, the Indian batsman started to have some success.
Captain Vijay Zol kept his nerve and combined wonderfully with Deepak Hooda to advance the score to 100-4.
However, just as it looked as though Zol was about to claim his half-century he played a back foot punch which stayed in the air just long enough for Duckett to take a diving catch at short extra cover.
Zol’s 48 from 85 balls gave India some momentum but it was Hooda who looked as though he would go on to make a big score as he began to target the England spinners.
Hooda would hit four boundaries as he moved serenely to 68 before a brilliant piece of work from Jonathan Tattersall whose direct hit sent the Indian batsman back to the pavilion.
Sarfaraz Khan continued to play his shots and he would race past 50 thanks to some superb hitting in the final overs.
Aamir Gani would fall for seven, and Kuldeep Yadav added a timely 16 before CV Milind and Hooda combined to take India to 221-6.
In reply England lost early wickets themselves as Harry Finch (10), Ryan Higgins (1) and Jonathan Tattersall (23) all fell to leave them on 41-3 but a superb innings from Duckett kept them in the game.
A quick fire 61 from just 64 balls meant that England were always in the hunt, while Ed Barnard’s 24 and Joel Clarke’s 42 from just 45 ballsput India under pressure.
At 199-7 it seemed as though England were running out of batsmen but Rob Jones (28 not out) and Rob Sayer (10 not out) saw them home with some five balls to spare.
Spinner Kuldeep Yadav was the pick of the bowlers for India as he claimed three wickets for just 46 runs from his 10 overs, while Hooda, Gani, Milind and Monu Kumar all picked up one wicket apiece.
