India outclass England to clinch fifth ICC U-19 World Cup title

Team India cruised to their record-extending fifth U-19 World Cup title as Yash Dhull’s side beat England by four wickets in the final in Antigua on Saturday. It was a complete all-round performance from India as seamers Raj Bawa and Ravi Kumar picked up nine wickets between them to restrict England to just 189 in the first innings before twin fifties from Shaik Rasheed and Nishant Sindhu took India over the line with 14 balls to spare.

England entered the final as one of the two remaining unbeaten teams in the competition, but Tom Prest’s side struggled from the outset as the Indian seamers ran riot with the new ball. Having won the toss and chosen to bat, England lost opener Jacob Bethell in the second over to a full delivery from Ravi Kumar before the captain Tom Prest chopped one onto his stumps for nought.

Opener George Thomas was full of positivity in his short stay at the crease, creaming 16 runs from one Rajvardhan Hangargekar over, but his aggression eventually proved to be his downfall as he miscued a slog-sweep off all-rounder Raj Bawa, handing Yash Dhull a simple catch at cover.

England slipped further two overs later when Bawa removed Will Luxton and George Bell off consecutive deliveries before Rehan Ahmed nicked off to first slip for 10. They were reeling at 91 for seven when Alex Horton chipped one straight to midwicket off Kaushal Tambe, but James Rew led the English fightback, adding 93 runs alongside number nine James Seales. 

Rew took on India’s trio of left-arm spinners to take England close to 200, but the batter eventually departed just five runs short of a deserved century after pulling Ravi Kumar to a stumbling Kaushal Tambe at deep midwicket in the 44th over. Ravi Kumar added a fourth scalp three balls later – nicking off Thomas Aspinwall for nought – before Raj Bawa closed out the innings to complete his five-wicket haul and register the best bowling figures in a U-19 World Cup final (5 for 31).

In reply, India got off to a shaky start as opener Angrish Raghuvanshi departed for a second-ball duck, nicking off to Alex Horton against left-arm seamer Joshua Boyden. However, Harnoor Singh steadied the ship alongside the vice-captain Shaik Rasheed, adding 49 runs for the second wicket before the former edged behind off Aspinwall.

Rasheed shared another vital partnership of 46 with his captain Yash Dhull to inch India closer to the target, but James Sales kept English hopes alive after dismissing both set batters in three balls. However, India immediately counter-attacked through Nishant Sindhu and Raj Bawa, with the pair sharing a pivotal partnership of 67 before wicketkeeper Dinesh Bana sealed India’s victory in trademark fashion, creaming a towering six over long-on.