Peake performance sends Aussies into U19 semis

After making quite a name for himself in the Big Bash, rising Australian star OIlie Peake has now steered his national teenage team into the semi-finals of the Under-19 World Cup with a captain's century against the West Indies in Zimbabwe.

Geelong prospect Peake's 109 off 117 balls proved the keystone of the defending champions' win at the Harare Sports Club but he was quicker to praise his bowlers holding their nerve as the Windies gave his unbeaten side a real scare before succumbing by 22 runs.

Peake's ton guided Australia to a formidable 7-314 after they'd been put in on Wednesday, but after a ferocious early Windies counter-attack in reply, the skipper had to rely on paceman Charlie Lachmund and left-arm spinner Aryan Sharma to seal the deal in a nervy finish.

Sharma, who'd earlier dropped a sitter, made amends with a crucial and nerveless catch in the deep off Lachmund in the 48th over before taking two wickets in two balls himself in the penultimate over to seal the deal.

Lachmund, Australia's spearhead whose radar was off earlier as he got hammered around by the brilliant burly Windies opener Zachary Carter, stayed cool when it mattered, taking another wicket in the final over to finish with 4-66 off his nine overs.

"It's probably great for us to get tested early on," Peake said.

"They definitely came out swinging. I was really impressed by the way the guys came back for their second and third spells. Probably a special mention to Naden Cooray who got that big wicket ... I thought he bowled superbly all day, keeping the stumps in play.

"Touching on Schiller, I thought he was awesome. A lot of the time he goes unrewarded and for him to get two or three today and few maidens, dry up one end, he's so reliable. That's why we love having him there.

"With Lachmund, he's got great ball speed. When he gets it right he's really tough to play. For him to come back after his first spell with a clear mind, fully focussed, it was really impressive."

It was by far from Australia's best performance on the slower surface in Harare after they had reeled off four scintillating wins on the seamer-friendly pitch at Windhoek.

Their victories in Namibia had been so easy that Peake hadn't really had chance to demonstrate the sort of brilliance he'd been showing in the BBL before he flew out to Africa, including one spectacular knock for the Melbourne Renegades three weeks ago when he hit a six off the final ball to beat the new champion Scorchers. 

Peake made up for it, though, once Australia had been given another flying start from leftie Will Malajczuk, who plundered 48 off 30 balls, while his ever-reliable opening partner Nitesh Samuel played anchor, with 56 off 74.

"They set it up really well," Peake said of Malajczuk and Samuel.

"For us to be over 100 off about 13 overs was the ideal start and looking back on the game it was lucky we did because it did definitely get a bit more tricky as the game went on and was quite tough to strike the ball at the back end.

"For Mala to get us off to such a flyer and Nitesh to be complementing him at the other end and going at a good rate himself, it's awesome. It's been the foundation for our batting and hopefully we can keep that up going into the finals."

Watched by his parents, grandparents and brother in the crowd, Peake then controlled affairs, hitting nine fours and one towering six over long on that took him to three figures off 113 balls, while also gaining valuable support from wicketkeeper Alex Lee Young (45 off 47) and Jayden Draper (29 off 23).

"It's always great to contribute. I haven't had much to do so far - the boys at the top have been doing it all," smiled the 19-year-old skipper.

"(The century) means everything," he continued.

"You don't know how many hundreds you're going to make for Australia so I'll definitely savour this moment. It's a great feeling and to make a hundred in a winning game as well makes it even more special.

Asked whether he was exhausted after his recent exploits in the BBL, Peake smiled: "Not yet, there's still bit more to give. It's been a whirlwind two years but you're always trying to win games, so it would have meant nothing if we'd lost today."

Resting their other star quicks Will Byrom and Kasey Barton, Australia struggled to adapt to the new conditions with the ball to start with, as the West Indies batters tucked in, racing to 1-123 off 15 overs.

But debutant leg-spinner Naden Cooray struck with his first ball to bowl the rampant Carter (64 off 42) before bowling a terrific 10-over spell for 38 runs that helped check their progress.

Paceman Hayden Schiller (2-54) also made the key breakthroughs by skittling Jewel Andrew (44) and Windies skipper Joshua Dorne (62), while Sharma's 2-47 was decisive, especially when he got rid of the Windies last real dangerman Jonathan van Lange in the penultimate over, caught in the deep.

Australia are now guaranteed to win their Super Six group and will play next week's semi-final in Zimbabwe against the runners-up of the other group, which will probably be either England or India.

"Keep enjoying it," was Peake's message to his players post-match.

"You don't want to get too caught up on results or anything like that.

"What we've done so well so far is enjoy each other's company. We always eat dinner together, play cards in the team room, some of the boys are on the PlayStation but I don't dabble in that but yeah, just keep enjoying it.

"It's great to be able to draw some inspiration from two years ago and I'm happy that I can pass on a few stories from that. But the motivation levels are really high, and for the meantime just soaking up this experience."

Australia's U19 World Cup fixtures

Jan 16: Australia beat Ireland by 8 wickets

Jan 20: Australia beat Japan by 8 wickets

Jan 23: Australia beat Sri Lanka by 9 wickets

Super Sixes, Jan 25: Australia beat South Africa by 6 wickets

Super Sixes, Jan 28: Australia beat West Indies by 22 runs

Feb 3: First semi-final, Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo

Feb 4: Second semi-final, Harare Sports Club, Harare

Feb 6: Final, Harare Sports Club, Harare

Australia squad: Oliver Peake (c, VIC), Kasey Barton (NSW), William Byrom (NSW), Naden Cooray (NSW), Jayden Draper (QLD), Steven Hogan (QLD), Thomas Hogan (ACT), Ben Gordon (QLD), John James (NSW), Charles Lachmund (QLD), Alex Lee-Young (NSW), Will Malajczuk (WA), Nitesh Samuel (NSW), Hayden Schiller (SA), Aryan Sharma (VIC)

All matches start 6:30pm AEDT, and broadcast exclusively live on Prime Video