India become U19 World Champions

Team India clinched their fifth ICC U19 World Cup title after beating England by 6 wickets in the grand finale at Sir Viv Richards Stadium in North Sound Antigua.

Earlier England captain Tom Prest won the toss and elect to bat first in their first ever World Cup final in U19 category since 1998. England certainly had a horrid start after being reduced to 61-6 in 16.2 overs as pacers Ravi Kumar and Raj Bawa rattled the top order including wickets of Tom Prest for a duck and semis hero George Bell for a golden duck.

James Rew was the rescuer for England as he put on a well-made 95 in 116 balls with the help of 12 fours. Rew in combination with James Sales (34*) put on a 93-run stand for the eight wicket as England were in tatters after losing wicket keeper Alex Horton resulting in England’s score after 24.3 overs at 91-7.

Raj Bawa picked 5 wickets and Ravi Kumar picked 4 wickets as England succumbed to 189 with 31 balls remaining. Raj Bawa’s 5/31 in final are the best ever bowling figures by any cricketer in a U19 World Cup final.

Needing 190 runs to win – India lost their opener and batsman in form Angkrish Raghuvanshi off just the second deliver of the innings as Joshua Boyden drew first blood. Harnoor Singh and vice-captain Shaik Rasheed put on a 49 run stand before Harnoor was removed by Thomas Aspinwall for 21 runs.

Captain Yash Dhull combined with Rasheed to put on a 46-run stand for the third wicket – as the latter registered back-to-back half centuries in semi-finals and finals of U19 World Cup 2022.

James Sales struck for England twice in 3 deliveries as he removed both Dhull (17) and Rasheed (50) – reducing India to 97-4 in 28.2 overs. Dealing with the tricky situation Nishant Sindhu and Raj Bajwa (35) put on a 67 run stand to push the advantage towards India.

Boyden and Aspinwall removed Raj Bawa and Kaushal Tambe to bring in some chance for England but Dinesh Bana and Nishant Sandhu took India through to win with 14 balls remaining!

INDIA v ENGLAND – U19 World Cup final : Match Summary

England U19 189 all out in 44.5 overs

George Thomas 27 (30) –  4 fours & 1 six

James Rew 95 (116) – 12 fours

James Sales 34*(65) – 2 fours

…………………………………………………

Ravi Kumar 9-1-34-4

Raj Bawa 9.5-1-31-5

Kaushal Tambe 5-0-29-1

India U19 195-6 in 47.4 overs

Harnoor Singh 21 (46) – 3 fours

Shaik Rasheed 50 (84) – 6 fours

Yash Dhull 17 (32) – 1 four

Nishant Sindhu 50*(54) – 5 fours & 1 six

Raj Bawa 35 (54) – 2 fours & 1 six

Dinesh Bana 13*(5) – 2 sixes

Joshua Boyden 7-1-24-2

James Sales 7.4-0-51-2

Thomas Aspinwall 9-0-42-2

Result: India U19 won by 4 wickets

Player of the Match: Raj Bawa

Player of the Series: Dewald Brevis