U-19 World Cup 2024 IND vs AUS Final Report: India “played a few rash shots” in the final, captain Uday Saharan said, as the boys in blue succumbed to a 79-run defeat to Australia in Benoni on Sunday.
This was the first time that Australia defeated India in the men’s under-19 World Cup since 1998, a period that saw India defeat them twice in the final (2012 and 2018). But Hugh Weibgen’s team carried on Pat Cummins’ team’s legacy of defeating India in an ICC final—twice in 2023—and won Australia their fourth under-19 men’s world title.
U-19 World Cup 2024 IND vs AUS Final Report: Harjas Singh’s fifty takes Australia to 253 before pacers get into the act
After electing to bat first, Australia had a steady start. The top three were gone by the 23rd over and the score wasn’t 100 yet. From there, left-handed batsman Harjas Singh, who had been an opener earlier in the tournament but was pushed to number 4 after his struggles at the top, counter-attacked spectacularly against the Indian spinners.
Harjas collected three fours and as many sixes in his knock of 55 runs in 64 balls that acted as glue in the middle-overs.
Then, despite losing three wickets between overs 34 and 40, Australia were given a late impetus by Oliver Peake, the number 6 batter, who scored 46* runs off 43 balls, taking Australia’s eventual total to 253. Raj Limbani took a three-wicket haul.
The target of 254 was always going to be a stiff one, considering that the pitch had undergone wear and tear with the two semi-finals being played here. And it was made even tougher by Australia’s four-prong pace attack, which was simply relentless.
India lost opener Arshin Kulkarni in the second over to Callum Vidler in the second over. For the next 10 overs, Vidler, Anderson, and Straker applied a chokehold on the run rate before Mahli Beardman blew India away with a stunning spell, which included wickets of Adarsh Singh, Musheer Khan, and Uday Saharan.
When Raf MacMillan got rid of Sachin Dhas in the 20th over, India’s challenge was virtually ended. Murugan Abhishek played a few handsome strokes in his 46-ball 42, but it was all over by the 44th over with India being bowled out for 174.
The unbeaten team in the entire tournament was finally beaten in the final by Australia. We had seen this script before.
Mahli Beardman was named Player of the Match for his figures of 3/15 in 7 overs.
Also read:
Get the latest T20 World Cup 2024 Updates, Dates, Fixtures, Venues & T20 World Cup Team updates along with Latest Player News at IceCric.News and Follow for Live Updates – Twitter, Facebook & Instagram.
