NORTH SOUND: An utterly dominant India won a record-extending fifth U-19 World Cup title here on Saturday, beating England by four wickets in the final of an extraordinary campaign that was almost derailed by a COVID-19 outbreak.
The triumph bore resemblance to the exploits of world-class Indian U-19 teams of the past.
Intrepid and industrious in their approach, the starry-eyed Indian players’ success stories also gave a glimpse into the world’s most perfectly calibrated youth structure, which is capable of consistently producing world-class cricketers who are ever ready to take on the biggest of challenges.
In a reflection of India’s dominance, wicketkeeper Dinesh Bana finished the chase of 190 with two sixes and 14 balls to spare.
On winning the toss in the big final, England captain Tom Prest rightly chose to bat first to avoid the “scoreboard pressure” during the chase. India did the next best thing: bowl out the opposition for a total — 189 in this case, in 44.5 overs — that failed to put them under pressure.
India were all over England before a gritty 95 by James Rew saved his team the blushes.
Bowling his medium pacers to deadly effect, Raj Bawa (5/31) ran through the English middle-order after the in-from left-arm seamer Ravi Kumar (4/34) laid the opposition low with two early blows.
India kept taking wickets at regular intervals but not for once did the intensity of the team dropped.
For close to 19 overs, Rew and James Sales (34 not out) defied India with their 93-run eight-wicket stand, ensuring the 1998 edition winners recover from a horror 61 for six and then 91 for seven.
In response, India lost Angkrish Raghuvanshi without a run on the board but the extremely talented Shaik Rasheed shone with a composed 50 off 84 balls.
Coming off his magnificent century in the semifinal against Australia, skipper Yash Dhull fell for 17, but the duo of Nishant Sindhu (50 not out) and Bawa (35) took the team within striking distance of victory with a 67-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
It has been an extremely challenging ride for the Indian team in this edition of the tournament as multiple players from the side were infected by the coronavirus and at one stage even struggled to field eleven fit personnel.
However, despite the huge setback that almost derailed their campaign, India came back a stronger unit focussed on correctly doing the things that were within its control. —PTI
India struck as early as the second over when Ravi sent back the dangerous Jacob Bethell (2) cheaply. The man from Bengal darted one in and then got it to hold its line as Bethell missed it completely after playing across the line.
—PTI

Press Trust of India