India vs England, U19 World Cup 2026 Final: Caleb Falconer’s century in vain as India defeat England to win 6th U-19 title

Kanishk Chouhan has picked up the wicket of skipper Thomas Rew. It was driven like tracer buller and was caught by the fielder. That was a good one. It was an arm ball from the off-spinner. India is chipping away here with the wickets. England has got enough, they need to calm down a bit and build a partnership for a while without losing a wicket. Again, it is one of those things these games cannot be won in 30 overs, but a couple of more wickets in the next 10, England will be out of it. If they manage to get 60 or so that will keep them in the game for the final 20.

Well, we have jinxed it, haven't we? Mayes reverse-swept one, and the ball took the top edge and was carried to the point fielder on the boundary. The ball has bounced a bit more than the batter anticipated neverthless it was good bowling from Khilan to keep the ball up and inviting the batter to play those shots. Skipper Rew has walked into the middle, and there is a platform set. That innings from Mayes has definitely dragged England back into this game but plenty of work still needs to be done, though they will need one of these two batters to get a big century at a good clip.

Dawkins is getting a few boundaries away here, and it does seem like it is coming a tad bit too late, given where they are in the powerplay they needed to get 70-80 in this phase. But neverthless there is some sort of acceleration here in the middle. With two right-handers in the middle, we might see a bit of left-arm spin of Khilan Patel post powerplay once the field is spread. Given how freely both these England batters have attacked the Indian bowling in the last 15 minutes or shows how brilliant this wicket is to bat on.

There is the first wicket for India. Joseph Moores tried to play a shot with the angled bat, and the ball took the inside edge onto the stumps. It was the result of persistent bowling around that off-stump channel. This has been top-class new-ball bowling by both the Indian seamers. Ambrish and Henil Patel have been probing away. It does seem like it is getting tougher and tougher for England to get the boundaries away. It will be interesting to see when Mhatre will make the first bowling change in Deepesh.

We are done with the opening over and it is a maiden start for RS Ambrish. That was a good over. He started a tad bit wide, but as the over went on, he came closer and closer to the stumps and started to hit the right areas, drawing the batter forward. Henil Patel has taken the new ball from the other end; he, too, will bowl good lines and lengths. England needs to have a decent power play. Decent is at least 70 if they have to be in the chase, if they go at 5s and 6s, that will increase the runrate exponentally later.

England U19 (Playing XI): Ben Dawkins, Joseph Moores, Ben Mayes, Thomas Rew(w/c), Caleb Falconer, Ralphie Albert, Farhan Ahmed, Sebastian Morgan, James Minto, Manny Lumsden, Alex Green

India U19 (Playing XI): Aaron George, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ayush Mhatre(c), Vihaan Malhotra, Vedant Trivedi, Abhigyan Kundu(w), RS Ambrish, Kanishk Chouhan, Khilan Patel, Henil Patel, Deepesh Devendran

penalty for England because they are behind the overrates. They will have a fielder less outside the circle for the last 12 deliveries. To be fair to them, they have had to collect the ball plenty of times from the boundary because of Sooryavanshi's brutal hitting. Neverthless they have bowled 20 overs of spin, and they are 26 minutes off from the scheduled innings end timer. As per India, they have got a good total here. Although it is a flat wicket, India should be able to defend this unless they bowl pretty poorly.

Another one bides the dust for India. Morgan bowled a fuller one, which Kundu did read and tried to scoop the ball, but it got the toe-end and fine-leg inside the ring took the catch. That is a good wicket for England. Kundu was looking in good touch and just was accelerating, but England managed to pick up a wicket. Chouhan has walked into the middle, and he, too, can hit a long ball. It does seem like England might end up restricting India under 400, which might sound crazy, but given where things were after 25 overs, that is a superb effort. As we update Minto picks up Ambrish

The least productive phase for India has been between 31 and 40 overs, where they just conceded 36 runs and lost two wickets. It does something like the new ball rule, where only one ball is to be used after 34 overs, which is to be seen. Minto has dug a couple into the surface, and both of them were hard to hit for the batters Trivedi and Malhotra. It is important that both Ambrish and Kundu pick their areas and pick their boundaries carefully, try to play low-risk shots to elevate the runrate or keep the good work done by Sooryavanshi early on.

Minto has picked up Malhotra here. The left-hander tried to hit the ball over the top ended up giving the catch to the mid-on fielder. He was trying to accelrate we could see the signs of aggression from him for the last 10 minutes, but it was one shot too many. Something to smile about for Minto, who was taken to the cleaners by Mhatre and Sooryavanshi in his first spell. England is pulling back things here, but they have already conceded over 300, and there are about 14 overs left in this game. India is looking good for 400.

This has been a comeback of sorts for England. Although Sooryavanshi did do quite a bit of damage, eventually England got the wicket. Trivedi and Malhotra are batting well, going at a run a ball, but the rate at which Sooryavanshi was going seems to be quite a fall off. That is a sensible way to approach this innings, as it is not easy for every batter to come in and bat like Sooryavanshi. The start has been so good that even if they manage to take a bit of time like they are doing right now, they will still or should end up at 350 or thereabouts, which will be a massive score in the final.

Lumbsden, the leading wicket-taker of the tournament, has picked up a wicket here. Sooryavanshi tried to play a scoop of sorts, which ended up in the hands of the keeper. He did not need to play that shot; he was doing pretty well, but what can we say, the genius thought he would try something, and it did not come off well. He did the damage, though arguably we might even say India has one hand on the trophy. Even if they manage to play no-nonsense cricket from here on, they will end up getting 360, which is a lot of runs in the final to get.

It does seem like a white towel has been thrown by the English players. There is not a lot the bowlers can do about the way things are going in the middle. Anything they have pitched anywhere on the wicket, Sooryavanshi has slapped them for sixes. This ground is not big enough for his brutal hitting. To be honest, the way he is going today, even MCG would have been shorter. Must feel sorry for the English bowlers, the dent their confidence might take after this game. These are quality players who might end up playing for England, but today it's not happening. As we update, Sooryavanshi has fallen here.

A brilliant 100 that from Sooryavanshi he did play it quite sensibally when he got closer to his 100 and once he got over the landmark has now started to slam the ball all over the park again. England starting against Sooryavanshi did have had some plan to contain him, but as the innings went on, they seemed to be short of ideas. Although there have not been too many slower ones that have been tried by the English seamers just to see if a mistime comes up. At the moment it has been just one varition which is to bowl a short one.

Vabhiav Sooryavanshi has reached 96 here. He slammed 22 runs of the previous over from Ahmed. He did have starts in this tournament, but it seems like he has saved his best for the final. What a player he is turning out to be. Sooryavanshi, it will be very interesting to see when he starts getting around that senior Indian team squad. He has already made a name for himself. Ayush Mhatre from the other end has had the best seat in the house thus far. He too played his role quite superbly in the middle from the other end.

Rew has turned back to his left-arm seamer Minto, who did feel the wrath of Sooryavanshi in his first over. Now he will have a lot more protection compared to when he operated in his first over. England needs to buy a wicket here because the pitch is offering nothing, so it has to come from the captain with a creative field placement or having an extra man in trying to cut down that single dangle the carrot a bit, ask the batters to hit in the areas in which they are not comfortable. Problem solving needed for England.

Sooryavanshi is going after the change bowlers here, both Lumbsden and Minto, who did not find the ideal length, have been slammed all around the park. This is where England needs to be a bit careful, as India is starting to get a move on. This is apretty good powerplay score already for India, given that it is the final, England needs to find a way to pick up breakthroughs here. It will not be a bad ploy for them to turn to spinners immediately after the power play, as pacers are taking a proper tonking here from Mhatre and Sooryavanshi here.

Lose shot from Aaron George that one he played away from his body, throwing his hands at the wide one and the ball carried to the point fielder, who took a brilliant catch. That one could have been left alone, but he tried to drive and got himself into a bit of a pickle. After a good semifinal innings, that is a poor way to get out for George. Skipper Mhatre has come into the middle, and India will be hoping the captain to deliver a good knock out in the middle. As per England, it is a good breakthrough that early on in the innings.

Morgan has taken the new ball and bowled to George. The ball is going in straight lines. It does seem like a pretty flat deck this one. We have seen some high-scoring semifinals, and given the power in the Indian batting and the nature of this wicket, they should be able to get 280 atleast don't they? Green has taken the new ball from the other end. It will be interesting to see if he can get any swing and seam movement. He is up against Sooryavanshi first up. Fasten your seat belts folks, it is going to be pretty exciting cricket while he is batting.

"The weather - a high of 28, a low of 16, and humidity is up to 75% with a little bit of a breeze. Let's have a look at the outfield as well. It has been superb in terms of getting it out the middle of the bat. You beat the 30-yard circle, it just runs away. You save your legs here if you're a fielder. The other aspect, once you get it (the ball) up in the air, altitude takes over 1,500 metres above sea level here, so you get it out the middle of the bat and it flies. It doesn't matter how big the ground is," informs Ed Rainsford. "Beautiful blue sky, sunshine, the odd little cloud. But looking down at this pitch, as a batsman, you'd want to get on here today. The only thing I'd say, in the first half hour, there might be a little bit of movement. There's a little more moisture in this pitch than there was on the semifinal pitch that played so flat throughout the day. the mind is all important in your chances of success. The conditions, you have to factor in the opposition, you have to factor in. But the toss, not so much so. If I was a coach talking to the players, I'd say, don't worry about the toss. Whichever way we go, you play aggressive cricket, we'll be fine," adds Andy Flower.

We chose to bat first. It looks like a very good pitch, little bit hard and we will try to put up a good target. It (semifinal pitch) was a really batting pitch, so the boys also played really well and they showed good batsmanship, so that was nice for us. We'll just play our natural game and keep it simple. Not to complicate things, just play our cricket. Same team.

Ben Dawkins, Joseph Moores, Ben Mayes, Thomas Rew(w/c), Caleb Falconer, Ralphie Albert, Farhan Ahmed, Sebastian Morgan, James Minto, Manny Lumsden, Alex Green

"All the best to the U-19 boys. You are playing some amazing cricket. From my U-19 experience, I can say this - these moments are priceless, so enjoy them with your teammates and give it your best," Pant, who was part of India's team for the 2016 U-19 World Cup, posted on X.

"Playing for India is always a proud moment, at any level. Enjoy the occasion, play with heart, wear the jersey with pride and get the cup home," he added.

Ravi Shastri, Nasser Hussain, Ian Smith, Ian Bishop, Aaron Finch, Dinesh Karthik, Kumar Sangakkara, Samuel Badree, Robin Uthappa, Carlos Brathwaite, Eoin Morgan, Wasim Akram, Sunil Gavaskar, Matthew Hayden, Ramiz Raja, Dale Steyn, Michael Atherton, Waqar Younis, Simon Doull, Shaun Pollock, Katey Martin, Harsha Bhogle, Mpumelelo Mbangwa, Natalie Germanos, Danny Morrison, Alan Wilkins, Ian Ward, Mark Howard, Nick Knight, Athar Ali Khan, Kass Naidoo, Bazid Khan, Raunak Kapoor, Niall O’Brien. Preston Mommsen, Andrew Leonard, Russel Arnold, Roshan Abeysinghe, Angelo Mathews, Temba Bavuma

Expectations in elite sport can be a double-edged sword. They can elevate an athlete and sharpen instinct, or weigh heavily, turning promise into pressure. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi arrived at the 2026 Under-19 World Cup with expectations firmly on his shoulders, tipped as one of India’s batters capable of shaping the tournament. Five matches in, the left-hander has shown glimpses of that promise without yet producing the defining innings that would elevate his campaign. (Read more from Shankar Narayan)

Aaron George, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ayush Mhatre(c), Vedant Trivedi, Vihaan Malhotra, Abhigyan Kundu(w), RS Ambrish, Kanishk Chouhan, Khilan Patel, Henil Patel, Deepesh Devendran

Hello and welcome to our live blog of the U19 final. Both teams have played some quality cricket through the tournament ,and today is all about holding the nerve. A win or loss is not the end or start of a career, but it is a good measuring point where the current crop of players are at in their development in both countries. Do stay with us to get all the updates.