Finance
India U19 won their sixth U19 World Cup championship, defeating England by 100 runs in the final at Harare Sports Club in Zimbabwe. The Ayush Mhatre-led side came into the summit clash unblemished, and they played some fantastic middle-order cricket to upset a well-balanced England side who defeated Australia in the semi-final.
The day began with a flurry of boundaries from Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who stole the show in the center. The 14-year-old had been highly lambasted for his poor performance in crucial matches, but against England, he rose to the occasion and played some incredible cricket in the middle.
Captain Ayush also produced some impressive cricket, scoring 53 runs off 51 balls. Following his departure, the middle order struggled for a while, but they kept the scoreboard ticking. Sooryavanshi gave the dream a wonderful start, and the middle order was never put under pressure. Keeper-batter Abhigyan Kundu, who had a great World Cup, added 40 runs, while Kanishk Chouhan hit an unbeaten 37 off 20 balls to help India score 411 runs.
How did the chase go?
England’s chase didn’t go as planned. They began with two maiden overs and Ben Dawkins and Ben Mayes attempted to pull the young Lions back into the game, but chasing 412 runs proved to be a difficult challenge. England captain Thomas Rew, who got a century against Australia in the semis, added 35 runs. Caleb Falconer, meanwhile, had a fantastic innings, scoring 115 runs off 67 deliveries.
The kid kept the team in the chase till the finish but was unable to overcome the distance. Some support from the other end could have helped England close the gap, but there was none. Nonetheless, it was an exciting game of cricket with a total of 722 runs scored.
