U-19 World Cup Final: India thrashes England in summit clash; wins title for sixth time

Harare: The Indian team has maintained its dominance in the Under-19 World Cup. Against a strong team like England, the Indian team performed brilliantly in all three departments and achieved the glory of becoming champions for the sixth time. India defeated England by 100 runs in the Under-19 World Cup final on Friday to claim their sixth title. The Indian team is the only team in the history of the Under-19 World Cup to have won the trophy the most times (6). Apart from India, Australia has won the title 4 times.

What record did Vaibhav Suryavanshi achieve?

Thanks to a spectacular 175-run innings from young explosive batsman Vaibhav Suryavanshi, India defeated England by 100 runs in the final on Friday to win the ICC Under-19 World Cup title for a record sixth time. India had previously won the trophy in 2000, 2008, 2012, 2018, and 2022. This demonstrates India's dominance in the history of the tournament. Fourteen-year-old Suryavanshi scored a magnificent 175 runs off just 80 balls.

He set the record for the fastest 150 runs in Under-19 cricket history, achieving this milestone in 71 balls. This helped India post a record score of 411 runs for nine wickets while batting first. England lost wickets at regular intervals and despite a century innings of 115 runs from Caleb Faulkner, they were eventually all out for 311 runs.

How did England perform?

Chasing a massive target of 412 runs, England did not get off to a good start and lost the wicket of Joseph Moors (17) in the fifth over. Ben Mayes, who came to bat next, and BJ Dawkins added 74 runs for the second wicket. In the 13th over, Khilan Patel dismissed BJ Dawkins, giving England their second blow. BJ Dawkins scored 45 runs off 28 balls with seven fours and two sixes. Captain Thomas Rew (31) was dismissed by Kanishk Chauhan.

India then sealed their victory in the 21st over by taking three England wickets. Ralphie Albert (0) was run out, Farhan Ahmed (1) and Sebastian Morgan (0) were dismissed by Deepesh Devendran. Caleb Faulkner (115) and James Minto (28) were also dismissed. England could only manage 311 runs in 40.2 overs and lost the match by 100 runs. For India, Deepesh Devendran took two wickets. Ambrish took two wickets, Kanishk Chauhan took two wickets, and Khilan Patel and Ayush Mhatre took one wicket each.

How did India perform?

Earlier, thanks to an explosive century by Vaibhav Suryavanshi (175), and contributions from captain Mayank Agarwal (53) and Abhigyan Kundu (40), India posted a massive score of 411 for nine wickets against England. Vaibhav Suryavanshi scored 175 runs off 80 balls, including 15 fours and 15 sixes. While he was at the crease, India looked set to reach 500 runs, but England made a good comeback in the last 10 overs.

India won the toss and elected to bat first. The Indian team did not have a good start and lost the wicket of Aaron George (9) in the fourth over. Captain Ayush Mhatre, who came in to bat next, steadied the innings with Vaibhav, and the two batsmen scored runs quickly. The two batsmen shared a 142-run partnership for the second wicket. In the 19th over, Alex Green broke this partnership by dismissing Ayush Mhatre, but he had completed his half-century with a six just one ball before. Ayush Mhatre faced 51 balls and hit seven fours and two sixes.

Vedant Trivedi, who came in to bat next, held his ground at one end. Meanwhile, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, from the other end, kept increasing his and the team's score rapidly with a flurry of fours and sixes. During this time, Vaibhav Suryavanshi completed his century in 55 balls. He scored his century by taking a single on the last ball of the 20th over. In the 26th over, Vaibhav Suryavanshi was dismissed as the third wicket. He was caught behind by Thomas Rew off the bowling of Manny Lumsden. Vaibhav Suryavanshi played an explosive century innings of 175 runs off 80 balls, hitting 15 fours and 15 sixes. During this innings, he became the batsman with the most sixes in a single innings in Under-19 cricket.

In addition, he also set the record for the most runs scored in Youth ODIs with 1412 runs. He broke Vijay Zol's record of 1404 runs. After Vaibhav's dismissal, India's scoring rate slowed down and wickets started falling. Vihan Malhotra (36), Ambrish (18), and Khilan Patel (three) were dismissed. Abhigyan Kundu played an innings of 40 runs off 31 balls, hitting six fours and one six. In the 49th over, Khilan Patel (five) was run out.

Kanishk Chauhan scored 18 runs in the last over of the innings, taking India's score past 400. Kanishk Chauhan played an unbeaten innings of 37 runs off 20 balls, hitting three fours and one six. For England, James Minto took three wickets. Sebastian Morgan and Alex Green took two wickets each. Manny Lumsden dismissed one batsman.