R n R bowl sensationally and India’s Under-19s lift World Cup for a record fifth time
By Kersi Meher-Homji
It was a night to celebrate as India’s under-19s defeated England’s under-19s by 4 wickets yesterday at North Sound, Jamaica.
India’s R n R were their deadly weapons as quickies Raj Bawa (5 for 31) and Ravi Kumar (4 for 34) bowled out strong England for 189.
Actually 189 was a recovery for England as the two Indian R n R (Raj and Ravi) had England on the ropes at 5 for 47, 6 for 61 and 7 for 91. Just when it appeared that England would be shot out for under 100, England’s two James; James Rew (95 runs) and James Sales (34 not out) added 93 gritty runs for the eighth wicket. England totaled 189.
Raj Bawa’s 5 for 31 was the best bowling spell in an under-19 World Cup final.
Set 190 to win India started badly losing opener Angkrish Raghuvanshi for a duck. But they recovered with Shaik Rasheed and Nishant Sindhu scoring 50s and Raj Bawa contributing 35.
As a climax, Dinesh Bana hit a six to win the final by four wickets. The winning six reminded commentators of six specialist MS Dhoni.
This is a record fifth time that India has won the u-19 cricket World Cup.
For his 5 for 31 and 35 runs Raj Bawa was adjudged the Player of the Match. He said at the presentation, “It always feels great to contribute to the team in any match but in a final it feels really special.”
Joining previous India’s under-19 World Cup winning captains Mohammad Kaif, Virat Kohli, Unmukt Chand and Prithvi Shaw, the current captain Yash Dhull said, “It’s a proud moment. It was good batting and a good comeback by England. But we kept cool minds and focus. It’s great being coached by VVS sir [Laxman] and Hrishi sir [Kanitkar].”
Yash Dhull proudly accepted the Trophy handed over to him by West Indies Test cricketer Richie Richardson. Dhull was swarmed by the Indian squad as “Chak de India!” was vocalised loudly by the DJ at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
Hearty congratulations, young India.
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