Australia beat India to win ICC U19 World Cup
Cricket
Australia clinches U19 World Cup
(Web Desk) - Australia defeated India by 79 runs in the final of the ICC U19 Men's Cricket World Cup 2024.
Opting to bat first, Australia put up a commendable total of 253 for seven, leaving India with the daunting task of chasing the highest target ever set in a youth World Cup final.
Despite their valiant efforts, Uday Saharan's team faltered in their pursuit of glory, ultimately succumbing to a total of 174 all out.
The Australian bowlers, spearheaded by the fiery Mahli Beardman (3/15) and the cunning off-spinner Raf MacMillan (3/43), kept the pressure on relentlessly, denying India any room to maneuver.
This victory marked Australia's fourth U19 title and their first since 2010, effectively avenging their losses to India in the 2012 and 2018 title matches.
Australia get their hands on the #U19WorldCup trophy for the fourth time pic.twitter.com/L7Rj0G9qZH
— ICC (@ICC) February 11, 2024
Over the last 12 months, Australia have won three major ICC trophies, which include the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2023 in addition to the aforementioned titles.
On the other hand, India have won the U19 Men's Cricket World Cup on five previous occasions.
India dominated their group and Super Six encounters with commanding victories over Bangladesh, Ireland, and the USA that helped them secure the pole position in Group A. Musheer Khan and Uday Saharan starred with the bat in the group stage, whereas Naman Tiwari and Saumy Pandey stood out with the ball.
Also Read: Methodical Australia outplay India to lift sixth World Cup trophy
For Hugh Weibgen’s Australia, different players have come to the fore at different stages of the tournament. Weibgen, Callum Vidler, Harry Dixon, Harkirat Bajwa, and Ryan Hicks stood out during the group stage, where the side showed varying levels of dominance in wins over Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Sri Lanka.
In the Super Six stage, Weibgen's sensational century against rivals England set the tone for a dominant win in Kimberley. Sam Konstas contributed with a hundred in the next game against West Indies, which helped Australia to a competitive total. However, persistant rain forced the match to be called off. On the back of this undefeated run, Australia reached the semi-finals as Group 2 toppers.
In the semi-finals against Pakistan, Australia's batting faltered yet again after Tom Straker’s six-wicket haul had put them on top. Digging deep, they managed to scrape through by one wicket in the final over of the game.
Australia
Harry Dixon, Sam Konstas, Hugh Weibgen (c), Harjas Singh, Ryan Hicks (wk), Ollie Peake, Tom Campbell, Raf MacMillan, Tom Straker, Mahli Beardman, Callum Vidler
India
Adarsh Singh, Arshin Kulkarni, Musheer Khan, Uday Saharan (c), Priyanshu Moliya, Sachin Dhas, Aravelly Avanish (wk), Murugan Abhishek, Naman Tiwari, Raj Limbani, Saumy Pandey.
