The Indian Under 19 team is now 5-time champions of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup, after constructing a patient chase on their way to the title this afternoon at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.
Now second-place finishers, England U19 won the toss and opted to bat first in the final showdown. However, India’s bowling attack was on the money spurring a collapse in the English batting order, leaving them reeling at 91-7. The only man to stand resilient was James Rew, who eventually went for 95 off 116 balls as he led England to 189 all out from 44.5 overs.
India’s Raj Bawa picked a five-wicket haul in 9.5 overs, while Ravi Kumar bowled 4-34 from his 9.
A second ball wicket in India’s batting innings sent nerves of a collapse through their camp, but Shaik Rasheed dispatched 6 fours in another half-century to ground India.
Another maiden half-century from Nishant Sindhu kept India going after Rasheed’s exit, but it was a perfect pair of sixes from Dinesh Bana in the 48th that stole the show and the victory.
Joshua Boyden, James Sales and Thomas Aspinwall pocketed two wickets each for the English bowling.
Hosted in the West Indies, the ICC U19 World Cup began on January 14 in Guyana.
