Lloyd Pope produces a magical spell in under-19 World Cup quarterfinal

OUR next great legspinner, redheaded South Aussie wonder Lloyd Pope, led Australia to a miraculous win against England at the U19 World Cup. VIDEO: Watch how his wrong-un bewitched the Poms.

Lloyd Pope delivered a blinder for his second wicket.

• Who is Lloyd Pope? Meet SA’s young spin sensation

THERE were shades of Shane Warne’s matchwinning heroics in the 1999 World Cup semi-final in Lloyd Pope’s performance at the under-19 World Cup on Tuesday. Only he took twice as many wickets.

Introduced into the attack with England at 0/29 after Australia had been rolled for 127 in its quarterfinal, the South Australian spin sensation took 8/35 to secure a 31-run win and show enough to suggest he might be the answer to the search for our next great legspinner.

“You always have to have a belief to win the game,” Pope said. “All the boys have worked so hard and we never gave up and that shows the true spirit ... the pitch was turning a bit so it helped me out.”

Warne has seen Pope, who has a rookie contract with South Australia, close up after bowling with him in Adelaide. He was ultra-impressed then and beamed when told of the 18-year-old leggie’s eight wicket blitz.

“I had a bowl with him in Adelaide two years ago. He gives it a rip and looks a real talent,” Warne said today.

Pope, the only player to take the most wickets in both the national under-17 and under-19 carnivals, said he had never paid attention to comparisons, especially not with Warne.

Lloyd Pope poses after taking eight wickets during the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Quarter Final match between England and Australia. Picture: Dianne Manson/Getty Images)

But like Australia’s greatest wicket-taker, the youngster declared his love for getting the ball in the big moments and revelled in his chance to bowl his country to victory against the Old Enemy.

“I like putting myself in pressure scenarios, I feel like I bowl better under pressure,” Pope said after his match-winning turn.

“To be able to do that for my country has been really good. And (Sangha) giving me the ball, it gives me confidence that my captain is really looking to advance the game and has the faith in me to land the ball straight away and take some wickets.”

Pope began to turn the match with two wickets in back-to-back deliveries in the eighth over.

He had Liam Banks stumped before bowling Harry Brook for a golden duck with a perfectly-pitched wrong-un to leave England 2/47.

Pope added a third scalp, England No. 4 Will Jacks for one, in his third over to make it 3/51 and give Australia some hope of a miracle.

Impressive English opener Tom Banton seized back some control of the match with a six off Pope to bring up his fifty as England moved past the halfway mark in its chase at 3/67 from 13 overs.

But Pope kept coming. He answered by taking his fourth wicket and the key scalp in Banton (58) as the English opener hit a reverse sweep straight to Sangha at gully.

The leggie made it five two overs later, removing Fin Trenouth for five to leave England needing 49 runs with five wickets in hand as the players broke for lunch.

White smoke coming from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel...cricket has a new Pope ...Lloyd Pope ...a Jaffa headed 18 year old leg spinner from Adelaide ...just took a lazy 8 wickets to beat England in Under 19 World Cup quarter final...his wrong-un accounted for 6 Poms .

— Kerry O'Keeffe (@kokeeffe49) January 23, 2018

This is not a drill. POPE HAS FIVE. We repeat, Lloyd Pope has five wickets... he is on 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 #U19CWC

— Cricket Aus Pathway (@CAPathway) January 23, 2018

Wouldn't be surprised to see Lloyd Pope bowling leggies for Australia senior team in five years. Great control and drift and he has a nice wrong'un #U19CWC #u19worldcup

— brad davidson (@braddavo) January 23, 2018

England looked to see Pope off when play resumed. A wide delivery was the only run from his sixth and seventh overs and the English nerves were well and truly setting in when offspinner Param Uppal joined the party by dismissing Euan Woods for eight.

Nerves became pure panic as Tom Scriven was run out to leave England 7/82. Pope took his tally to six in the following over to make it 8/84.

England was 8/96 as Pope began his 10th and final over but he only need four deliveries. Ethan Bamber was trapped LBW for two and No. 11 Dillon Pennington was bowled for a duck as the Poms were all out.

Pope captured the most wickets at last year’s under-17 and under-19 national championships and was Australia’s leading wicket-taker in an under-19 series against Sri Lanka.

The Kensington player made his first grade debut at 16 after switching to leggies from “pedestrian medium pacers” at the urging of his dad.

Earlier, captain Jason Sangha (58) was the only batsman to make a mark as Australia was knocked over inside 34 overs.

The rest of the batting line-up was roadkill as English bowlers Ethan Bamber, Dillon Pennington and Will Jacks took three wickets each.

In reply, England raced to 0/47 from seven overs as Banton took a liking to Aussie quicks Ryan Hadley (0/24 from four overs) and Zak Evans (0/17 from two overs). After three subpar knocks in the group stage, Banton hit two sixes off one Evans over as he surged towards a half century.

Austin Waugh was dropped. (Photo by David Rowland-IDI/IDI via Getty Images )

Australian under-19 coach Ryan Harris made a bold decision to drop Steve Waugh’s son, Austin, for the knockout game.

Austin Waugh had endured a slow start to the tournament in New Zealand, making knocks of six and 26 and taking 1/64 in his only innings with the ball as the Aussies failed to impress during the group stage.

They were comfortably beaten by India in their opening game before thumping minnows Zimbabwe and Papua New Guinea. England went undefeated against Bangladesh, Canada and Namibia.

But Waugh couldn’t even consider himself the most unlucky to miss selection against the Poms. Fast bowler Jason Ralston was overlooked despite taking 7/15 against PNG. Jarrod Freeman, who made 11 and took 0/11 from nine overs in Australia’s final pool game, was the other player to make way.

Originally published as Lloyd Pope produces a magical spell in under-19 World Cup quarterfinal