India are the U-19 World Cup winners for a record fifth time!
India went through the tournament unbeaten and were playing their fourth consecutive final, and also is the most decorated team in the history of the tournament.
The Yash Dhull-led side put in a fine performance, as Raj Bawa starred with both bat and ball to help seal a 4-wicket win against England in Antigua. Bawa picked a five-wicket haul and scored 35 while Ravi Kumar picked 4 wickets for the champions. India vice-captain Shaik Rasheed got a gritty fifty too while Nishant Sidhu played a solid hand under pressure, guiding the team over the line, scoring 50 not out – his first half-century.
Dinesh Bana finished things off for India in the 48th over in style, as he whacked it over long on. Bana hit two sixes to finish off the contest.
Earlier, having won the toss and opted to bat England were in trouble early on before James Rew scored a solid 95 and had good support from James Sales (34*) while the rest of the batting pretty much collapsed early on. England managed 189, which India chased down with a few deliveries to spare.
England Innings
Batting first, England’s top order were under pressure from the get go as India’s bowlers were on the money. Ravi Kumar drew first blood in the second over of the game, knocking over Jacob Bethell for 2, before sending back the captain Tom Prest for a duck in his next over.
At the other end George Thomas resisted for a brief bit, adding 27 to the cause before Raj Bawa had him caught by Yash Dhull.
Bawa did not stop there and ran through the middle-order quickly, dismissing William Luxton (4), George Bell (0) and Rehan Ahmed (10) in an extraordinary spell of bowling. By the end of the 17th over England were 61/6 and staring down the barrel. India were yet to turn to their most successful bowler Vicky Ostwal.
Meanwhile, James Rew had to play a solid hand at the other end, and he dug in, trying to push England’s batting as far as possible. With Alex Horton (10), Rew put on a 30-run stand as England inched closer to 100. Horton was dismissed trying to clear the ropes of Kaushal Tambe and was caught by Dhull at mid-wicket. Ostwal, India’s top wicket-taker was keeping things tight at the other end, but hadn’t got a wicket yet.
With James Sales for company, Rew started to build further. He completed a fighting half-century in the 30th over of the innings as England started to steady the ship. The duo batted patiently and were careful to not give India a chance as they continued to counter-attack.
Rew, who was approaching a century with 10 overs still to go, had started to go through the gears as India’s bowlers looked worried. However, he could not get to what would have been a well deserved century as he dismissed for 95.
Rew looked to smash Ravi Kumar over square leg but in the deep Kaushal Tambe's juggling act brought an end to his innings in the 44th over. Rew and Sales had put on 93 runs together.
A few deliveries after, Ravi Kumar had Thomas Aspinwall for 0, picking his fourth wicket in the innings. Off the next over, Bawa completed his five-fer when he dismissed Joshua Boyden, cleaning up England for 189.
India Innings
While India’s bowlers started well earlier in the day, the England bowlers weren’t too far behind either, and in fact struck off the second delivery of the chase. India, who were chasing 190, lost Angkrish Raghuvanshi for a duck as Joshua Boyden had him caught behind.
After that, India's other opener Harnoor Singh and Shaik Rasheed had there task cut out, but they were watchful and absorbed the pressure and steadied the ship. England's bowlers though were also doing their bit to keep the game on a knife-edge as they made runs hard to come by. After 15 overs, India were 40/1 in their chase but both the batters looked steady.
The duo could another 9 runs to the cause before Aspinwall's short one had Harnoor fending off, only to be caught by a diving Alex Horton for 21.
Rasheed, by now well set, was starting to play a few more shots and had the in-form Yash Dhull at the other side. The vice-captain went on to score his second consecutive half-century of the tournament, getting to the milestone in the 27th over. However, Rasheed (50) looked to go big immediately after and became James Sales' first wicket of the game.
Captain Dhull had settled in at the other end with India needing less than 100 runs to win at the time the third wicket fell. It wasn't going to be easy for India though as Dhull was the next to be dismissed for 17 as Sales picked his second wicket. India were four down and in a spot of bother midway through the chase.
England's bowlers were doing brilliantly to keep things very tight, with the captain himself bowling a fantastic spell. Prest finished with figures of 0/29 in his 10 overs, however by that time, Raj Bawa and Nishant Sindhu had put together a healthy stand, taking the sting out of England's attack. At the time, in 12 overs India needed 55 more to win.
A couple of massive sixes from both batters soon after brought up the half-century partnership for them. Bawa though could not hang in there for too long after and was dismissed for 35 by Boyden, and Kaushal Tambe followed for 1 of Aspinwall. In the final three overs, India needed 12 runs with 4 wickets in hand.
Sindhu completed a gritty fifty in the 48th over before Dinesh Bana finished it off in style with a couple of sixes.
India won the U-19 World Cup final by 4 wickets and bagged their fifth title in the competition.
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