Under-19 World Cup: SA beat Aus in a thriller

Australia Under-19 has suffered a nail biting two-wicket loss to South Africa in their final Group B match at the World Cup in Queenstown, New Zealand on Wednesday.

After winning the toss and batting; Australia posted 7-276 before South Africa chased down the target for the loss of eight wickets with just two balls remaining to finish 8-278 in 49.4 overs.

The win means South Africa finishes top of Group B and will play Sri Lanka on Sunday, while Australia will play New Zealand at Rangiora in Super League Quarter Final Two, also on Sunday.

South Africa got off to a flyer in their chase, advancing quickly to 4-172 off 28.2 overs and looked in complete control before some tight bowling got the Australians back into the game.

Skipper Mitch Marsh said he was disappointed with the narrow loss, but happy to get it out of the way now than in the finals.

"It was obviously disappointing to lose but I think there are a lot of positives that we can take out of that," Marsh said.

"If we can just work on a few things over the next couple of days; I thought our fielding let us down a bit today, but I know we can get a lot better than that and I'd rather we get that out of the way now than later in the tournament.

"Looking forward now though; we know New Zealand is a pretty good side, it should be a good game on Sunday and we're really looking forward to it and getting back up to Christchurch."

South African opener Dominic Hendricks was the thorn in the Australians side as he piled on 94 including eight boundaries before falling to the medium pace of birthday boy Alex Keath, who turned 18 today.

Marsh was quick to pay tribute to the South Africans after the match and the attacking way they went about their cricket.

"South Africa batted beautifully today, especially early in the innings and although it got tight towards the end they held on and congratulations to them," the 18-year-old said.

"They've played some pretty good cricket all day they've deserved to win, but we're just focused on Sunday now and I know we're all looking forward to it."

Keath's seven overs of mediums were vital in helping get Australia's bowling plans back on track as he picked up 3-34, while Kane Richardson was the pick of the quicks grabbing 3-49 from his 10 overs.

Earlier in the day, Australia found themselves in a little bit of trouble at 2-40, before Victorian Keath and Queenslander Jason Floros came to the crease and resurrect the innings.

Keath was again solid, turning over the strike with Floros powering some classic cover and straight drives that saw the pair put on a 125-run partnership, before Keath fell for 64.

Floros stuck around with Tim Armstrong (48) to accelerate the innings, before being undone just four short of his century, out for a brilliant 96 that included eight fours and a six.

After play, Marsh said he was extremely happy with how the middle order was going, particularly the form of Floros and Keath.

"I thought Jason Floros' innings and Keathy's (Alex Keath) innings were fantastic through the middle overs today and really helped us get back on track."

Australia now plays New Zealand on Sunday in Super League Quarter Final two with the outcome of that match to determine who they play after that.