India beat England in the final and lift the U19 World Cup for the record 5th time
Brief Scores: India 195 for 6 (Sindhu 50*, Rasheed 50, Boyden 2-24) beat England 189 all out (Rew 95, Bawa 5-31, Ravi 4-34) by four wickets.
India, on Saturday, won their fifth World Cup title as they made their 8th appearance in the final of a U19 World Cup when they took on England in the summit clash at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. India become the most successful nation at the U19 World Cups with five titles.
The 22-Yard Surface at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound
The surface at Antigua looked decent to bat on. It looked like hard rock with no grass on it during the toss. Batting-first and putting a huge score on board looked like a go-to-go plan for the toss-winning captain on this track as many teams before have done some and tasted success.
England Opted To Bat First
The coin fell in the favour of England captain Tom Prest and he elected to bat first. Both the teams entered the contest with the same playing XI as both the nations were coming off victories in their respective previous matches.
Ravi Kumar made the early inroads for India
Just like how they have been throughout the tournament, Indian bowlers once again bowled at the right length and line to get early breakthroughs against the opposition.
Ravi Kumar, who has been spectacular throughout the tournament, caught Bethell LBW for just two runs in his first over before sending the England captain back into the pavilion for a duck in his very next over.
The two early blows saw England side languishing at 18/2 before George Thomas gave a glimmer of hope to English men by putting on a good show with the bat. However, it didn't stay long as Indian pacer Raj Bawa dismissed the well-settled batter for 27 runs, leaving England reeling at 37-3.
Raj Bawa's magical spell left England stunned
It was a terrific start for Yash Dhull and co as they didn't let the momentum slip from their hands. Raj Bawa continued his stunning form with the ball as he went on dismissing Will Luxton (4 off 8) and George Bell (0 of 1) on two back to back deliveries, leaving England reeling at 47-5.
From 47 for 5, England were soon 91 for 7 following the wickets of Rehan Ahmed who was caught at slip off Bawa, and Alex Horton who was dismissed by off-spinner Kaushal Tambe.
While the match looked all settled for India with more than half of the England team back into the dugout, England still had one fighter left in the form of James Rew, who joined hands with No. 9 James Sales (34 off 65) to build a stand, and together they added 93 runs on board.
Read More: Ravi Kumar, Hangargekar, Vicky Ostwal: India’s U-19 bowlers who have lit up the stage in WI
James Rew lone fighter for England
Rew did all the damage and scored 95 runs off 116 balls before falling prey to Ravi Kumar. Rew made things complicated for men in blue. While at one point, England didn't look in a position to cross the 150-run mark, they posted 180 plus, thanks to Rew's brilliant batting efforts only.
Thomas Aspinwall became Ravi's fourth wicket of the day while Bawa dismissed Boyden in the next over to finish the match with 5 wicket haul, the first-ever Indian bowler to achieve this feat in the Under 19 World Cup final. England failed to bat 31 crucial deliveries as they went all out for 189 in 44.5 overs.
England started well but Rasheed's half-century steadied the ship for India
Coming to India's chase, it started on a terrible note as England's most consistent left-arm swing bowler Josh Boyden trapped India's in-form batter Angkrish Raghuvanshi for a duck.
India batters, however, didn't let the early wicket pressure divert them as they held the rope tight and kept on fighting. Harnoor Singh and Rasheed were looking settled before Thomas Aspinwall broke the crucial partnership in the 18th over, dismissing Harnoor Singh for 21 runs.
Then comes captain Yash Dhull, who along with his deputy, put together a double-century stand in the semi-final and tried doing the same against English men before Rasheed was caught on the leg side off Sales for 50 runs.
Dhull (17 off 32) fell prey to the same bowler after a couple of overs, giving England a glimpse of hope.
Sindu-Bawa led India's chase
Sindhu and Bawa then joined hands and attacked English bowlers sequentially before Bawa was sent back to the pavilion by Boyden. Tambe followed Bawa after 4 overs. Sindhu completed his half-century off 54 balls while Bana didn't take much time to finish the game. A keeper ended the match with a six in a world cup final. Six over long-on but this time, the keeper was Under19 wicket-keeper Dinesh Bana. MS Dhoni, it was in the 2011 World Cup.
The entire Indian team rushed to the field to celebrate their fifth Under-19 World Cup win. They grabbed the stumps and posed for the camera.
Raj Bawa won the Player of the Match award for his 5/31 with the ball and 35 off 54 with the bat.
Dewald Brevis named Player of the Tournament for his 506 runs at 84.33 and 7 wickets at 28.57 in the ICC U-19 World Cup 2022.
Quotes from Hrishikesh Kanitkar and VVS Laxman
India's head coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar expressed his excitement after a thrilling world cup victory. He further heaped praise on India's Under19 World Cup-winning captain Yash Dhull for leading the side to victory.
"It's too exciting for my good, but I'm happy with the result. I think we learned a lot from this. We were looking to bat as well. There was a little bit of moisture. [Dhull] led them very well. He has a very good head on his shoulders. I think it's a fabulous competition, getting to this stage to perform at this young age, for all teams. It's a great opportunity to showcase talent and for the academies around the world."
Former Indian cricketer and legend VVS Laxman, who has been with India's under 19 players for World Cup preparations also congratulated the team while giving credits to the selection committee, head coach and support staff for their constant efforts.
"Firstly, huge congratulations to the selection committee, because it was a new selection committee and it was quite challenging for them to identify this group and after that, I think it's the coaching staff with Hrishikesh as the head coach, Sairaj Munish Bali and all the support staff. The way they brought this group together, they worked hard and won the Asia Cup and the preparation for this World Cup was fantastic," VVS Laxman said in the press match conference.
"In the middle of the tournament, we all know what happened to the boys, to test positive but to show that kind of resilience and positive attitude is exemplary. I think the BCCI has to be complemented, the number of tournaments each age group player gets to play, but unfortunately, over the last two years because of Covid they didn't play any tournament and that's why this win is very special. It is just a learning process and everyone understands that in the group, Exciting times for all of them," he added.
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