India triumph in the U19 final against Australia thus grabbing the world title for the fourth time after 2000,2008 and 2012. Manjot Kalra”s blistering 101* helped India for a family win by 8 wickets.
Australian Innings
Earlier Australia won the toss and opted to bat first. After a top-order failure, Jonathan Merlo and Param Uppal helped Australia reach a respectable total of 216. Nathan Mcsweeney and Will Sutherland failed to make an impact on the scoreboard and this made the last six wickets crumble for just 33 runs. Porel, Nagarkoti, Anukul and Shiva Singh claimed two wickets each.
Indian innings
India started their innings in a steady manner with Prithvi Shaw and Manjot Kalra scoring runs by running between the wickets. There were few rain interruptions that left the crowd frustrating. Shaw was cleaned up by Sutherland for 29 runs that left the burden on the shoulders of Gill to steady the innings. Gill after being bowled for a run a ball 31, made Harvick Desai to anchor the innings with Manjot.
Indian Middle order which wasn”t tested in the five matches prior to this raised eyebrows on the fans across the world, but the youngsters made sure they handled pressure in a proper way to make the team taste victory. Manjot and Harvick”s partnership accounted for 89 runs and Manjot reached his triple figures at the last. He hit 101* with 8 boundaries and 3 sixes with a strike rate of 99.02. He thus became the second player after Unmukt Chand to score a century in the final of U19 World Cup.
India grab the fourth title
This is the fourth time India triumphed in an ICC U19 tournament and Prithvi Shaw joins the list of Kaf, Kohli and Unmukt Chand who won the cups earlier for India.
Manjot Kalra was adjudged the Man of the match while Shubman Gill bagged the Man of the series award.
Wall blessed team India
The members of the team expressed their gratitude to Rahul Dravid, their coach who played the main role in their successful journey.
The team was ecstatic and even thanked him in the post-match presentations for motivating mentorship throughout the tournament.
Match summary : Australia – 216 (47.3) Merlo 76,Porel 2/30
India – 220/2 (38) Manjot 101*, Sutherland 1/36