Peake's message for semis-bound Australia at U19WC

Broadcast details for ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup

Australia's ICC Under-19 Men's Cricket World Cup title defence could have hardly gone much better so far.

Still unbeaten, the Aussies became the first team to secure qualification for the knockout stages, following a 22-run victory over the West Indies that they were made to work for.

They scored 314/7 from their 50 overs before the West Indies made it to 292/9 in reply.

Australia march into U19 World Cup semi-final

Captain Oliver Peake's class was on full display, constructing a high quality century - his first at Under-19 World Cup level. He scored 109 off 117 balls, after opening pair Will Malajczuk and Nitesh Samuel saw the Aussies off to a frantic and aggressive start.

"It means everything (to score a maiden ton)," Peake said post-game.

"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."

"(The openers) set it up really well. For us to be a hundred off about 13 overs was the ideal start and looking back I suppose it was lucky that we did, because it did definitely get a little bit more tricky as the game went on and it was quite tough to strike the ball towards the back end.

"So for (Malajczuk) to get us off to such a good flier and Nitesh to be complimenting him up the other end and going at a good rate himself is awesome and has been the foundation for our batting lineup and hopefully we can keep that going into the finals.

"Absolutely stoked with the win. To go into the semi-finals undefeated is a great feeling and I think the boys will take plenty of confidence out of it."

The challenge the West Indies posed throughout the contest is being viewed as a positive by an Australian team whose World Cup campaign has been mostly starved of close contests.

The bowling attack was made to dig deep as Barbados slogger Zachary Carter bludgened seven fours and four sixes to give the West Indies' run chase a fighting chance early. It was Australia's Naden Cooray that eventually got the prized wicket, as Carter departed for 64 off 42 balls.

"It was probably great for us to get tested early on and (the West Indies) definitely came out swinging," Peake continued.

"But I was really impressed with how the guys came back, in their second and third spells and probabaly a special mention to Naden Cooray who got that big wicket (removing Carter). He bowled superbly all day, keeping the stumps in play."

Opener Charles Lachmund showed great fight, collecting four wickets after a rough start for figures of 4/66 off nine overs, while Hayden Schiller and Aryan Sharma also collected two scalps each.

"I thought (Schiller) was awesome," Peake continued.

"A lot of the time I think he goes unrewarded and for him to get two wickets today, and get a few maidens, dry up one end. He's so reliable and that's why we love having him there."

"And (Lachmund) has got great ball speed and when he gets it right, he's really tough to play and for him to come back after his first spell, with a clear mind, fully focused, it was really impressive."

Having the benefit of playing in Australia's successful campaign two years ago, Peake's message to team mates was short and sweet.

"Just keep enjoying it, you don't want to get too caught up on results," he added.