Kuala Lumpur, Feb 27: India survived a late scare to beat New Zealand by three wickets to book a berth for the title clash of the under-19 cricket World Cup here today.

In a thrilling rain-curtailed semifinal, the Kiwis rode on middle order bat Corey Anderson's 68-ball 70 to score a modest 205 for eight in 50 overs after electing to bat.

However, the target become slightly stiffer for the Indians after it was reset at 191 (rpt 191) in 43 overs due to rain interruption.

Opener Sreevats Goswami (51 off 76 balls) and captain Virat Kohli (43 off 53 balls) played sensible knocks to lay the foundation for India's win, which was achieved in 41.3 overs at the expense of seven wickets.

Even though India's firebrand pacer Pradeep Sangwan could not taste success today, other bowlers stuck to their task to check the New Zealanders from scoring freely and take wickets at regular intervals.

New ball bowler Ajitesh Argal provided the early breakthrough to India as he claimed opener George Worker (3).

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja breached Michael Guptill-Bunce's (11) defence to apply further brakes on the slow scoring rate of the New Zealanders.

Ken Williamson (37) and Fraser Colson (32) then consolidated the New Zealand innings by putting up a vital 57-run partnership for the third wicket.

Indian skipper Kohli took up the responsibility and rolled his arm with his medium pace to remove both the set batsmen, who were threatening to build a bigger stand.

That, however, was not the end of the Kiwi resistance as Corey Anderson blasted 70 runs, including six boundaries and four sixes, in no time to take his team to a respectable total. (Agencies)