Player of the tournament
Australia skipper William Bosisto has been named as the player of the tournament. But one is sure he would trade this award for the Cup.
This feels good
Unmukt Chand: I don’t know what’s happening right now. It was due and am thankful to God that I could perform today and make the team win. Today we’ve set no limits for ourselves, so if we create a nuisance please forgive us.
Pretty deflated
Bosisto: We are pretty deflated in the dressing room. We dropped a few vital catches and it came back to hurt us. Unmukt is a tremendous player and it’s not the first time he has terrorised us.
India Under-19s 227-4 after 47.4 overs
Chand 111, Patel 62
India win by 6 wickets and 14 balls remaining. Smit Patel hit the winning four, swinging a short ball to the mid-wicket fence and the rest of the boys needed no invitation to come running into the field. Great knock by captain Unmukt Chand, who was dropped twice, but in the end made the most of his luck. Smit was also dropped once.
This is India’s third U-19 World Cup title and they are now level with Australia who have also won three. Smit Patel was brilliant as well and he played an important hand — the partnership that won it for India was an unfinished 130 off 140 balls. Classy.
Smit: We kept talking about trying to stick to the basics. That’s what out coach told us and that’s what we did. It was great batting with Chand, he gave me confidence and I knew he could hit any bowler he chooses.
Chand played a skipper’s knock for India. Getty Images
India Under-19s 220-4 after 47 overs
Chand 110, Patel 56
The equation is completely in India’s favour now. Chand is dealing in sixes. He hammered another one to show Australia who’s boss. Smit chipped in with a four. This is pretty much over now. So Jeetega bhai jeetega…
India Under-19s 205-4 after 46 overs
Chand 103, Patel 49
Smit hit a four in the last over, neatly guided it to fine-leg. Chand responded with a superb 6 to get his 100 off 126 balls, 7 fours and 5 sixes. The pair has put on 108 runs in 21.4 overs. India need 21 off 24 balls to win.
India Under-19s 191-4 after 45 overs
Chand 95, Patel 43
‘India jeetega’ chants have erupted in the stadium but this is a tight, tight finish. Sandhu’s overs are finished as well. India need another 35 runs with 6 wickets and 30 balls remaining.
India Under-19s 186-4 after 44 overs
Chand 93, Patel 41
The Indian skipper got a gift from his Australian counterpart Bosisto, who dropped a dolly off the second ball of the over. Chand responded with a two and a six — his fourth of the innings — to ease the pressure. Guess someone might just have dropped the World Cup… wonder what Steve Waugh is thinking! India need another 40 runs with 6 wickets and 36 balls remaining.
India Under-19s 177-4 after 43 overs
Chand 84, Patel 41
Three runs off the last over for India. This is thrilling stuff. One wicket could change the balance — Chand can hit the big shots, but he needs to pick his moments.
India Under-19s 174-4 after 42 overs
Chand 83, Patel 40
Good over for India — they got seven runs. But they missed out on quite a few scoring opportunities. Australia at this stage were 160-5. If India play normally, they should win this — but it’s the u-19 level, anything can happen. India another 52 runs with 6 wickets and 48 balls remaining.
India Under-19s 167-4 after 41 overs
Chand 81, Patel 35
Good over for Australia, they kept India to just two runs. But it was also the last over for Paris, their strike bowler. So at least for now, it looks like India played it smart.
India Under-19s 165-4 after 40 overs
Chand 80, Patel 34
Chand was saving his best for the last. Another six, his third six of the innings, helped India bring down the required run-rate. This is good batting. India need 61 runs off the last 10 overs. the partnership has been worth 68 runs in 15.4 overs.
India Under-19s 153-4 after 39 overs
Chand 70, Patel 32
Chand seems to be tiring a little now but it’s vital that he stay in the middle. He has played a few Ranji matches and that experience is vital for India. But either way, this match is going to go down to the wire. India need another 73 runs with 6 wickets and 11.0 overs remaining.
India Under-19s 140-4 after 36 overs
Chand 64, Patel 27
India need 86 to win off 84 balls. And this has been an important partnership for India — the duo have already added 43 runs in 11.4 overs. It’s not been at a great pace but they have stayed together in the middle for India.
India Under-19s 124-4 after 33 overs
Chand 58, Patel 17
The reuired rate is now up to 6 runs per overs — 102 runs off 102 balls. India need to break out of this rut just about now. They can’t let it get over their head.
India Under-19s 115-4 after 29 overs
Chand 53, Patel 13
A four from Patel relieves some of the pressure. But things are getting pretty tight for India — they need 111 to win from 21 overs. It was the first four in 44 deliveries. India need more of that. Chand also has got bogged down, he needs to come out of that.
India Under-19s 97-4 after 24.2 overs
VH Zol c †Peirson b Paris 1 (14b)
Another wicket. Zol just got bogged down — two consecutive maidens were bowled before this over — and in the end was done in by the line. He just hung his bat outside the off-stump and the edge was well-taken by a diving keeper. Chand is running out of partners and India middle-order is getting exposed here. And this is the bowling powerplay in progress — it started in the 21st over.
India Under-19s 97-3 after 23 overs
Chand gets his fifty off just 66 balls including 5 fours and 2 sixes. India 97-3. Super stuff from the Indian skipper but he cannot do this alone, he needs some support. India need 129 more to win the match.
India Under-19s 82-3 after 18 overs
GH Vihari c & b Turner 4 (13b)
India Under-19s require another 144 runs with 7 wickets and 32.0 overs remaining. Crazy stuff. Vihari looked nervous from the word go and not a good way to go. He tried to turn it to the on-side but got a leading edge. Chand has slowed down as well — in his last 22 deliveries, he has made just 5 runs.
India Under-19s 75-1 after 15 overs
B Aparajith c Turner b Sandhu 33 (38b, 5×4)
Another wicket for Australia. Baba falls, good catch by Turner, Sandhu was the bowler. He was tempted into the drive and couldn’t keep the ball down on the ground. Big wicket, it will get more difficult from now on. Chand needs to stay in the middle.
India Under-19s 60-1 after 10 overs
Chand 29, Aparajith 24
The Indians are taking the attack to the Aussies, Chand hit a superb six in the 9th over and is looking very good. He is probably playing his best knock of the tournament. Baba is looking very much in control as well but they need to be careful. They shouldn’t get carried away.
India Under-19s 22-1 after 5 overs
Chand 11, Aparajith 8
They need 204 runs from 45 overs to win the match. But they were dealt an early blow when their best batsman in the tournament, Prashant Chopra, was dismissed for a duck. But skipper Unmukt Chand and Baba Aparajith have looked positive in their stay so far.
Australian innings
Australia have done well to finish on 225 after they were 4 down for 38 early in their innings.
The defining knock for the Australians came from skipper William Bosisto, who made an unbeaten 87 off 120 balls. He began slowly but he really didn’t have an option after his side had lost some early wickets. But he built up the innings magnificently. In the process, he also showed that no matter what the age group — the Aussies are always up for a fight.
Sandeep Sharma took four wickets for India. AP
As Bosisto walked off the ground at the end of the innings, the appreciative crowd gave him a standing ovation for him. But Travis Head deserves praise as well. He chipped in with a vital, aggressive 37 which laid the platform for the fightback. It must have also given confidence to the rest of the batting line-up.
Down the order, Ashton Turner weighed in with a vital 43 off just 50 balls. He hit 3 fours and a huge six, to give the Australian innings some much-needed impetus towards the end.
For India, Sandeep Sharma picked 4 wickets and was very impressive. The spinners in Baba Aparajith and Harmeet also bowled well.
The Aussies were wary of Harmeet and almost chose to play his overs out, rather than attack him. The young left-arm orthodox spinner seems ready for bigger things.
The pitch is pretty good for batting, much better than the other pitches we have seen in the competition so far and if India can keep wickets in hand early on, they will have a good chance of winning.
India’s middle-order hasn’t exactly clicked in the tournament, so the top four batsmen will need to do most of the run-scoring.
