New Delhi: About three months after the seniors met their match against Aussies in the final of the ICC World Cup at Ahmedabad, the U-19 boys in blue also came a cropper against the yellow brigade in another World Cup championship clash.
Opting to bat first in the ICC U-19 World Cup final at Benoni, South Africa, Australian colts posted an impressive 253/7. Left-hander Harjas Singh, who was born in Sydney five years after his parents moved to Australia, top-scored with 55.
The Indian batters, who were in blazing form in their previous matches, struggled against the four-pronged Aussie pace attack and were never in the hunt to achieve the highest ever chase in an U-19 World Cup final.
But for opener Adarsh Singh’s watchful 47 and lower-order batter Murugan Abhishek’s strokeful 42, none of the others got going. As many as seven batters were dismissed for single-digit scores.
Just like in the Men’s World Cup, expectations were high on Sunday as well, as the Indians had beaten all comers in the two tournaments going into the final.
But when it mattered most, Indians fell short and finished second-best.
It was Australia’s fourth U-19 World Cup title, just one behind India’s five triumphs.
Brief Scores
Australia U-19 253/7 in 50 overs (Harjas Singh 55, Hugh Weibgen 48, Oliver Peake 46*, Harry Dixon 42; Raj Limbani 3/38).
India 174 all out in 43.5 overs (Adarsh Singh 47, Murugan Abhishek 42; Mahli Beardman 3/15, Raf McMillan 3/43).
Result: Australia won by 79 runs.
Player of the Final: Mahli Beardman.
