New Delhi [India], February 3 (ANI): On this day in 2018, India’s young brigade defeated Australia by eight wickets at Bay Oval in Tauranga to lift the ICC U19 World Cup for the record fourth time.
Prithvi Shaw-led side remained unbeaten in the tournament, winning all six matches. The side stormed into the summit clash after a thumping victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in the semifinal. India defeated Pakistan by 203 runs to set-up a clash against Australia in the final.
Chasing a paltry total of 217, India were powered by opener Manjot Kalra’s unbeaten 101 and wicketkeeper Harvik Desai’s not out 47. India chased down the total comfortably in 38.5 overs.
India got off to a decent start with openers Prithvi Shaw and Kalra playing some confident shots early on. Australia finally broke the opening stand with Will Sutherland cleaning up Indian captain Shaw (29) and breaking the 71-run partnership.
Shubman Gill joined Kalra in the middle and the duo further dented Australia with a half-century stand. For the second wicket, the duo shared 70 runs.
Param Uppal struck to remove Shubman (31). The breakthrough did bring in some hope for the young Australians as they showed some intensity in the field. However, it was short-lived thanks to another fifty-run stand between Kalra and Desai which put India over the line.
Earlier, after winning the toss Australia were bowled out for 216 runs. Jonathan Merlo made a solid 76 before India’s left-arm spin duo of Shiva Singh and Anukul Roy sprung into action.
At 183 for four, Australia looked well on course to reach 250 in a high-pressure match until the Indian spinners engineered the collapse with the Jason Sangha-led side losing its last six wickets for 33 runs.
Kalra won the Man of the Match match award for his anchor knock while Shubman Gill won Player of the Tournament for his superb efforts and set a few records along the way too. He amassed 373 runs in the tournament.
In the latest edition of the tournament in 2020, India lost to Bangladesh by three wickets in a thrilling final in Potchefstroom. (ANI)
