Yash Dhull century takes India into fourth consecutive U-19 World Cup Final

India stormed into their fourth consecutive ICC U19 World Cup Final following their comprehensive 96-run victory in the semi-finals against Australia. India captain Yash Dhull led from the front with the bat, scoring a scintillating century and adding 204 runs for the third wicket alongside his deputy Shaik Rasheed (94) to take India to 290 for five in the first innings. In reply, Australia began strongly but suffered a middle-order collapse at the hands of the Indian spinners, who picked up six wickets between them as Australia were bowled out for just 194 inside 42 overs. 

With this victory, India have knocked out Australia from the ICC U19 World Cup for the third tournament in a row and have booked their spot in Saturday’s final against England.

Having won the toss and chosen to bat, India suffered a major scare early in the innings as Australia removed both openers cheaply within the first 13 overs. William Salzmann burst through the defences of Angkrish Raghuvanshi while Harnoor Singh edged behind off Jack Nisbet to put the team in a spot of bother at 37 for two.

However, India eventually consolidated the innings thanks to an excellent partnership from Yash Dhull and Shaik Rasheed, two players who recovered from Covid-19 earlier in the tournament. The pair showed plenty of patience early on, reaching their half-century partnership of 78 deliveries before eventually switching gears once they passed the 30-over mark.

Dhull reached his half-century off 64 deliveries and later went on to become the third Indian captain after Virat Kohli in 2008 and Unmukt Chand in 2012 to score a century at the U19 World Cup, reaching the three-figure mark in a 19-run over from Tom Whitney. Australia finally broke the 204-run partnership thanks to a slice of luck, as Yash Dhull was left stranded at the non-striker’s end after the ball ricocheted off James Nisbet’s hand back onto the stumps.

Rasheed followed his captain one ball later on 94, cutting a short delivery straight to point, but India still managed to finish the innings strongly, creaming 27 runs off the final six deliveries of the innings to finish with 290 after 50 overs.

India’s clinical performance continued with the ball as Ravi Kumar removed in-form opener Teague Wyllie in the second over of the innings before the Indian spinners dominated throughout the middle as Australia collapsed from 71 for 1 to 125 for 7 in the run-chase. Lachlan Shaw scored a determined half-century to offer some hope to Cooper Connolly’s side, but Australia were eventually bundled out for just 194 as India booked their place in the final with a comfortable 96-run victory.