Benoni: Australia replicated another World Cup final heartbreak for defending champions India following their 79-run victory to lift their fourth Under-19 World Cup title at Willowmoore Park on Sunday.
In a span of three months, India twice went unbeaten to the final of the World Cup, to face Australia in the final and on both occasions, they ended up on the losing side.
When the fate of the game was decided, the jubilant Australian players stormed onto the field, with skipper Hugh Weibgen making an impression of Michael Vaughan in 2005 after winning the Ashes.
While chasing a target of 254, two maiden overs from Australia foreshadowed the chain of events that were about to unfold in the next 43.5 overs.
Arshin Kulkarni and Musheer Khan were the two casualties in the first powerplay, which handed Australia early control in the final.
Callum Vidler was sensational in his spell, while Mahli Beardman soared high with his pace.
No walk in the park
Beardman dismissed India’s skipper Uday Saharan in single digits for the first time in the tournament, which indicated that the chase wasn’t going to be a walk in the park for the Indian team.
Both pacers did well to induce Indian batters to play false shots and make them lose their wickets. Raf MacMillan’s spin was next to follow and he made the most of what was available to him from the surface.
Adarsh Singh (47) and Murugan Abhishek (42) waged a battle during their time on the crease; however, it wasn’t enough to get India across the finishing line.
Earlier in the innings, after winning the toss, Hugh Weibgen’s Australia skipper decided to bat first and set a target of 253/7 runs in the final match.
Harry Dixon (42 runs from 56 balls) and Sam Konstas (0 runs from 8 balls) opened for the Aussies. Even though Konstas failed to make a mark, Dixon’s knock helped the Kangaroos get off to a good start.
Limbani made the first breakthrough of the game after he dismissed Konstas in the 3rd over.
After the dismissal of Konstas, Weibgen (48 runs from 66 balls) took control of the game and formed a crucial partnership with Dixon.
Crucial half-century
Naman Tiwari picked up the Aussie skipper’s wicket in the 21st over.
Harjas Singh (55 runs from 64 balls) made a crucial half-century and took Australia to a better position in the game.
Naman dismissed Dixon in the 23rd over.
Ryan Hicks (20 runs from 25 balls) played an average knock but made an important partnership with Harjas.
Saumy Pandey bagged a crucial wicket and removed the dangerous Harjas from the crease in the 38th over.
Musheer Khan and Limbani dismissed Raf MacMillan (2 runs from 8 balls) and Charlie Anderson (13 runs from 18 balls) respectively.
Oliver Peake’s (46 not out from 43 balls) unbeaten knock helped the young Australian put 253/7 on the target. Peake smashed a four in the last ball of the first inning and powered Australia to cross the 250-run mark.
Tom Straker (8 not out from 13 balls) also stayed on the crease till the last ball and paired up with Peake.
On the other hand, Limbani bagged 3 wickets in his 10-over spell and gave away 38 runs. Naman picked up 2 wickets in his 9-over spell. Meanwhile, Saumy and Musheer took one wicket each.
Brief scores: Australia 253/7 (Harjas Singh 55, Hugh Weibgen 48, Oliver Peake 46*; Raj Limbani 3/38) vs India 174 (Adarsh Singh 47, Murugan Abhishek 42, Musheer Khan 22; Mahli Beardman 3/15).
