Australia's quarter-final locked in at U19 World Cup

Australia face a quarter-final showdown against defending champions India on Tuesday as the Under-19 World Cup approaches the knockout stage.

Seven out of eight quarter-finalists have been locked in and host nation South Africa face a must-win game against the United Arab Emirates tonight to secure the eighth quarter-final berth.

There have already been two big-name casualties in the tournament; with England and Sri Lanka have already been relegated to the secondary 'Plate' finals system alongside the likes of Nigeria and Japan, which will be played while the top eight nations battle it out for the silverware over the next two weeks.

India's 44-run win over New Zealand on Friday secured them top spot in Group A and a quarter-final against the Aussies, who will finish second in Group B behind the West Indies.

Australia are still on a high after their extraordinary last-ball win over England on Thursday, which knocked their fierce rivals out of the race to win the tournament.

Needing 40 from the final three overs after losing 5-53 in their pursuit of 253 to win, Australia looked down and out before No.9 batsman Connor Sully struck three sixes and a four in the 48th over to keep their hopes alive.

The right-hander and No.10 Todd Murphy then peeled off eight runs in the penultimate over before taking 10 from the last, with Sully clearing the in-field to secure the winning runs from the last ball of the match.

The Australian side is led by batting young guns Mackenzie Harvey and Jake Fraser-McGurk, who have already made an impact at senior domestic level at home, while young Sydney Thunder leg-spinner Tanveer Sangha is the equal-second leading wicket-taker in the tournament so far with 10 at an average of just 9.20.

Underlining how vital a breeding ground the Under-19 tournament is, nine of the 11 Australian players who played in the final two years ago have already played in the KFC BBL or are contracted to a club this season.

Australia haven’t won the tournament since 2010 when a side captained by Mitchell Marsh and featuring future internationals Josh Hazlewood, Kane Richardson and Nic Maddinson beat Pakistan in the final.

The winner of the India v Australia quarter-final will face the winner of the second quarter-final between Bangladesh and either South Africa or the UAE.

In the other side of the draw, the Windies will face NZ and Afghanistan will play Pakistan in the other quarter-finals.

Australia's U19 World Cup quarter-final against India will be broadcast LIVE in Australia on Fox Cricket and live streamed on Kayo

2019 U19 World Cup Quarter-finals

28 Jan: India v Australia, Potchefstroom (7pm AEDT)

29 Jan: West Indies v New Zealand, Benoni (7pm AEDT)

30 Jan: Bangladesh v South Africa/UAE, Potchefstroom (7pm AEDT)

31 Jan: Afghanistan v Pakistan, Benoni (7pm AEDT)