ICC U-19 World Cup: India Boys Enter Final

In the ongoing ICC U-19 World Cup 2022, Indian boys enter final after beating Australia by 96 runs on Wednesday (February 02) at Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua, West Indies. India will lock horns with England in the title clash on Saturday (February 05).

Winning the toss, India decided to bat first and posted 290 for 5 in 50 overs. Captain Yash Dhull (110) scored run-a-ball century, while his deputy Shaik Rasheed missed his ton by six runs, as he fell for 94 off 108 balls. Despite losing openers early, both the batters constructed their innings so well and forged a 204 run partnership before falling in two consecutive balls. Dhull became the third Indian skipper to score a ton in an U-19 World Cup after Virat Kohli and Unmukt Chand. Some power-hitting towards the end by Rajvardhan Hangargekar (13/10, 1×6,1×4), Nishant Sindhu (12/10, 1×6, 1×4) and Dinesh Bana (20/4, 2×6, 2×4) helped the Indians to set a stiff target on this slow pitch.

Australia’s chase couldn’t take up well as they kept loosing wickets on regular intervals. Lalchlan Shaw’s 51 runs, and 30s from Campbell Kellaway (30/53) and Corey Miller (38/46) were not enough for the Aussies as they got folded for 194 runs in 42nd over.

For India, Vicky Ostwal took 3 wickets while Sindhu and Ravi Kumar chipped in with 2 scalps each. Kaushal Tambe and Angkrish Raghuvanshi bagged one each.

India make it four consecutive ICC U-19 World Cup finals. All eyes glued to the Saturday encounter. Currently, the men in blue have the record four titles to their name. It’s to be seen whether they could make it five this time or would England win their second U-19 World Cup.