India beat England by four wickets to win their fifth ICC Under 19 Men's World cup in the West Indies.
India beat England by four wickets to win their fifth ICC Under 19 Men’s Cricket World Cup in the West Indies.
The two unbeaten sides met at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua and Barbuda as England went in search of only their second title, but it was India who extended their record of most tournament wins.
Raj Bawa took five for 31 as England lost wickets early in their innings before 95 from James Rew restored hope in the push for a first trophy since 1998.
It was not to be as both Shaik Rasheed and Nishant Sindhu made fifties before Dinesh Bana crashed back-to-back sixes to seal the win.
England won the toss and chose to bat with their second-highest run-scorer Jacob Bethell alongside George Thomas who had made a courageous 52 in their semi-final win over Afghanistan.
It was a shaky start for Bethell who survived an appeal for caught behind in the second over but fell three balls later as he was dismissed leg before wicket by Ravi Kumar for two.
Captain Tom Prest came in at number three but could not add to his 292 runs as he went for a four-ball duck, England’s first of the tournament.
Thomas was not deterred by the loss of two of his side’s key wickets as he played attractive strokes and earned a brief reprieve having been dropped on 26.
But he too got out before he could have any real impact, caught by Yash Dhull off the bowling of Raj Bawa for 27.
James Rew then put his hand up to be England’s potential savior, staying put as wickets fell around him, none of the Young Lions middle order able to add more than ten to the total as they slipped to 91 for seven.
It was left to James Sales to work with Rew to put on England’s highest stand of their innings, adding 93 runs to the total before Rew cruelly missed out on his century.
He was caught by Kaushal Tambe for 95 from 116 ball having hit 12 sixes and almost single handedly given England a fighting chance.
Sales was left stranded on 34 not out as the tail wagged – England were all out for 189 from 44.5 overs as Bawa claimed five for 31, with Kumar almost equally impressive with four for 34.
Players of India celebrate with the ICC U19 Men's World Cup Trophy following the ICC U19 Men's World Cup Match between England and India at Sir Vivian Richards stadium on February 5th, 2022 in Antigua.
ICC Under 19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2022 placings
1 - India
2 - England
3 - Australia
4 - Afghanistan
5 - Pakistan
6 - Sri Lanka
7 - South Africa
8 - Bangladesh
9 – United Arab Emirates
10 – Ireland
11 – West Indies
12 – Zimbabwe
13 – Uganda
14 – Scotland
15 – Canada
16 – PNG
You must be logged in to post a comment.