West Indies: Indian players celebrate during U19 World Cup final cricket match between India and England. (Source: PTI)IND U19 vs ENG U19 Final Highlights:India clinched the U-19 Cricket World Cup title for the fifth time after beating England by four wickets in the summit clash, riding on a sensational all-round show from Chandigarh boy Raj Angad Bawa on Saturday. Bawa shone with the ball with a sensational fiver (5/31) to help India shot England out for 189 before hitting a valuable 35 down the order to help India chase down the target of 190 with 2.2 overs to spare. Earlier, England opted to bat after winning the toss but they were shot out by India for 189 in 44.5 overs with pacer Bawa (5/31 in 9.5 overs) and Ravi Kumar (4/34 from 9 overs) sharing the spoils.
India U19 (Playing XI): Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Harnoor Singh, Shaik Rasheed, Yash Dhull(c), Nishant Sindhu, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dinesh Bana(w), Kaushal Tambe, Raj Bawa, Vicky Ostwal, Ravi Kumar
England U19 (Playing XI): George Thomas, Jacob Bethell, Tom Prest(c), James Rew, William Luxton, George Bell, Rehan Ahmed, Alex Horton(w), James Sales, Thomas Aspinwall, Joshua Boyden
Yash Dhull led-team outplayed the dominating Kangaroos in the semifinal on Wednesday. (Twitter)
Nishant Sindhu brings up a vital half-century to help India beat England by four wickets in the Under-19 World Cup final. Dinesh Bana follows it up with a six as India pick up the title for record fifth time.
OUT! Thomas Aspinwall gets rid of Kaushal Tambe for 1. A superb catch from Ahmed! Aspinwall concedes just two singles, three overs to go. IND 178/6 after 47 overs, need another 12 runs to win.
India lose their fifth wicket, Raj Bawa departs for 35. Kaushal Tambe comes to the crease in place of Bawa. IND are 164/5 after 43 overs, need 26 runs in 42 balls.
First six for India at the 40th Over. And that brings a 50-run partnership between Nishant Sindhu and Raj Bawa at the crease. India need 44 runs off 60 balls.
35 overs done, Raj Bawa and Nishant Sindhu building a partnership - India need 67 runs to win now with six wickets in hand. IND are 123/4 after 35 overs, chasing 190 to win.
Yash Dhull falls for 17 and the captain and vice-captain have been dismissed in quick succession. James Sales leaked runs in his first spell, but has removed both set batters in the space of 3 balls. Raj Bawa comes to the crease in place of Yash Dhull. IND are 98/4 after 29 overs.
India U19 vice-captain Shaik Rasheed continued his fine run of form to complete a second successive fifty. Rasheed, who struggled with cramps, reached half-century after coming in at 0/1 for India but departs soon after. IND are 95/3 after 27 overs.
Around the 13th over mark, the Indian voices became louder on the field. Kaushal Tambe from first slip was the ‘chirp-leader’, with captain Yash Dhull giving him good company. England were already intimidated, thanks to Raj Bawa and his delivery that dismissed George Bell for a golden duck. (READ FULL STORY)
England with a breakthrough as Aspinwall removes Harnoor with a bouncer. Partnership broken just short of 50. But Rasheed is struggling with cramps. Harnoor departs, the skipper Yash Dhull has joined Rasheed in the middle. IND are 49/2 after 18 overs.
Sukhwinder Bawa, Raj's father-coach, wanted his son to become a proper all-rounder and focus on his batting.
Back in 2000, when Mohammad Kaif-led India won the U-19 World Cup, Sukhwinder was the toast of every cricket journalist. His ward Yuvraj Singh was Player of the Tournament, and everyone wanted a piece of the coach who had trained the to-be superstar.
Cut to the present, two decades later, his phone is again buzzing, and the inboxes are full, but Bawa is not overwhelmed. He says, “I am having deja vu. I have seen it before. (READ FULL STORY)
Ten overs in ,and India steady in chase of 190 after losing Angkrish Raghuvanshi early. IND are 33/1 after 10 overs. Harnoor on 17*, Rasheed on 12*
Shaik Rasheed looking in his element early on, with two bounaries so far. Rasheed and Harnoor need to build a strong partnership to set the foundation for India. IND are 18/1 in 5 vs ENG, chasing 190 to win.
What a start to the 2nd innings! Left-arm pacer Joshua Boyden strikes, gets Angkrish Raghuvanshi second ball of the chase after he walks out to the crease with Harnoor Singh. IND are 0/1 after 1 over.
England U-19 post 189 from 61/6 after a 93-run partnership between James Rew And James Sales. A fighting 95 gfrom James Rew has kept England in the match! India first team to bowl England out in this tournament. Raj Bawa gets a five-wicket haul. England set a target of 190 runs for India in the final.
That's two wickets in the over for Ravi Kumar. That was a straightforward catch to begin with but Kaushal Tambe nearly drops it before recovering brilliant. He holds on and Ravi has Rew for a brilliant knock of 95. His best this World Cup before today was only 29, but stepped up when it mattered the most. This is followed by a 2-ball duck for Thomas Aspinwall. The batter tried to cut him but got a faint edge that the keeper pouched with ease. ENG are 185/9 after 44 overs.
Wicketkeeper Dinesh Bana with some quick reflexes behind the stumps, but James Sales survives. However, James Rew is flying, he moves in to the 90s. ENG are 184/7 after 42 overs.
This is a brilliant partnership between Rew and Sales! England are fighting back. With runs on board in a big game on pitch with some assistance, this chase could get trickier for Ind. Super knocks from two in the middle with Rew bossing it. The deck also appears more settled and truer now and there is value for strokeplay. India did well to make the most of the morning freshness after overnight rain. Now can they clean up the tail quickly? ENG: 159/7 after 38 overs
50-run stand up for the eight-wicket between James Rew (72) and James Sales (19) –These two are keeping England alive in this final. ENG: 147/5 after 35 overs
Lone Ranger Rew is taking England towards 150! Indian fans are getting a bit iffy at the moment. 'Some of the bowling changes by Yash Dhull are very baffling to me.Why Nishant Sindhu is bowling ahead of Vicky Ostwal?When James Rew is playing spin well, why wasn't a pacer brought on earlier?When it was done, why Hangargekar & not Ravi Kumar?, ' asks Vipul on Twitter
James Rew has spent considerable time in the middle and is now finding the gaps with ease. Nishant Sindhu pitches it up and the batter slogs it over the mid-wicket region. ENG: 107/7 after 28 overs
"Contrary to what most people would say I think that while Ostwal and Nishant have nice steady actions, Tambe has more promise. Tambe puts more energy on ball. Last bit of action reminds of Powar or Herath trying to get drop on ball. His arm is slightly high though," says Harsh on social media.
Kaushal Tambe breaks the partnership with the wicket of Horton! He tried to go big and hit it hard but straight to Dhull who did brilliantly to hold on to it. England in danger of getting bowled out under 100. ENG: 91/7 after 24.3 overs
Good execution from James Rew to a fullish delivery outside off stump. Rew plays the aggressive hit and gets it very fine to beat the short third man fielder. Tambe returns in his next over and this time Alex Horton dabs it down to fine-leg for a four. ENG: 87/6 after 23 overs
FOUR, full and wide, driven off the front foot. Horton can bat and he got a fifty last game, informs the on-air comms. Gives the full face of the bat to this one and sends it wide of mid-off. ENG: 70/6 after 20 overs
Raj Bawa snares Rehan Ahmed who edges it straight to the slips and this time Kaushal Tambe makes no mistake. Bawa had to come good after a couple of ordinary games and boy what a spell to send England into dumps in a huge game. He is single-handedly turning the game on it's head. That’s six down for England. ENG: 61/6 after 17 overs
Raj Bawa is on fire. He removes William Luxton and George Bell off successive deliveries! It was a brilliant bouncer to George Bell first up and Bell, who was fantastic in the semifinal, is gone for a first-ball duck today. In the words of Samuel Badree, “Pitch is a batting paradise”. And England are 5 down for 47. That’s some effort by India's bowlers.
A sustained period of pressure has brought about a wicket. It was some time since the last boundary had come and Thomas goes for the big hit but a leading-edge means a simple catch to Yash Dhull. Raj Bawa picks up the wicket. Thomas is gone for 27 off 30 balls.Superb start from India in this final. ENG: 38/3 after 10.2 overs
There is no such thing as an easy slip catch but this is as close as you can get. Kaushal Tambe drops a straightforward catch. What makes it even worse is that the ball went pretty slowly to Tambe but somehow he has managed to spill it. Raj Bawa, the first change bowler, is denied a wicket. George Thomas survives. ENG: 31/2 after 7 overs
George Thomas counter-attacking with a shuffle down the pitch and gets to the pitch off the ball and hits it past extra cover. Ravi Kumar gives him a slight staredown. Aggression from the Indians from the start but they need to sustain it. ENG: 30/2 after 6 overs
Ravi Kumar snares Tom Prest for a duck. England probably didn't want that. First Bethell to a corker that trapped him on the crease, then the skipper Prest chopping on to Ravi very early. 2/18 needs to stabilise now. Superb jinx by the commentator though. ENG: 18/2 after 4 overs
Commentator: No England batter has a duck in this World Cup. It’s a good stat to have isn’t it.
Next ball: Tom Prest England Captain bowled for a duck.
Dragged short and well wide of off, Thomas swivels a fraction and smacks the pull flat over the deep mid-wicket fence. What a shot by the English opener. England get a move on. ENG: 18/1 after 3 overs
Ravi gets the breakthrough for India with a beauty. Pitches in line and comes back just enough to hit in front of middle and off. That would have crashed in the off. Bethell is trapped LBW for just 2 runs. ENGU19: 4/1 after 2 overs
Time for the national anthems and once it is complete, players are ready for action. A blustery day at Antigua. There was also some overnight rain and a fine breeze across the ground. Hangargekar, who is ready to open the attack will not mind this as this might help his inswingers. George Thomas and Bethell are at the crease for England. Let's Play.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Harnoor Singh, Shaik Rasheed, Yash Dhull(c), Nishant Sindhu, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dinesh Bana(w), Kaushal Tambe, Raj Bawa, Vicky Ostwal, Ravi Kumar
George Thomas, Jacob Bethell, Tom Prest(c), James Rew, William Luxton, George Bell, Rehan Ahmed, Alex Horton(w), James Sales, Thomas Aspinwall, Joshua Boyden
Samuel Badree brings us the pitch report: 'Batting paradise. It's hard as a rock and batsmen can trust the bounce. Bowlers have to find out ways to restrict the runs and find out ways to pick wickets. But looking at this surface, we are in for a batting masterclass. Let's hope the rain stays away.'
"We also wanted to bat first. We take it game by game and we play with a positive mindset. Change of venue doesn't bother us. No changes in the playing eleven for us."
"We will have a bat first, pitch looks a good one and obviously scorecard pressure, chasing in a finals is always hard. To put 230 against them (Afghanistan) and then defend."
England win the toss and they'll bat first in the final.
Raj Angad Bawa was only five when he lost his grandfather, Tarlochan Bawa, a member of the Indian Hockey team that won the 1948 Olympic Games in the United Kingdom. Raj Angad, 19, has the faintest memory of his late grandfather – the evening stroll in their backyard in Chandigarh. Tarlochan scored two goals in the 1948 Olympics; one in the 4-0 win over Great Britain in the final, earning Independent India its first gold medal.
Vicky Ostwal’s ability to generate turn and bounce has made him an asset for India at the ongoing ICC U-19 World Cup. Add to it his pinpoint accuracy and it’s no surprise that the left-arm spinner has troubled all the teams in the competition. He is third on the wicket-takers’ list with 12 scalps in five games, including a fifer against South Africa.
Rishabh Pant, who represented India at the Under-19 World Cup, took to Twitter and wished the youngsters good luck for the final.
Former India captain Virat Kohli too called the team to motivate them. Captain Yash Dhull said the interaction with Kohli was beneficial for the boys. Kohli, who went on to become a world-beater after captaining India U-19 to the title in 2008, shared his experience of handling pressure in big games like a World Cup final.
On the eve of the much-anticipated final, the Indian camp didn’t have long meetings. Instead, the team gathered together to watch the Bollywood movie ’83’. The film is based on the Kapil Dev led Indian team’s famous against-the-odds win over the mighty West Indies in the 1983 World Cup in England.
India and England will face off in the final of the Under 19 World Cup on Saturday at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. Interestingly, both teams have remained unbeaten throughout the tournament. For India, a record fifth title is an objective in their fourth successive final, while for England, it’s been 24 years since the likes of Rob Key, Graeme Swann, and Owais Shah swept New Zealand aside by seven wickets in Johannesburg to take the trophy.