St. JOHN’S, Antigua - THERE were scenes of jubilation yesterday (Feb. 5) as tournament favourites India showed an alround display of talent to walk away with the 2022 ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup title for the fifth time.
They took down another favourite, England, by four wickets in a one-sided contest at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium at North Sound, Antigua.
Despite their strong batting performances throughout the tournament, England failed to come to the biggest party when needed as they could only muster a paltry 189 all out in their allotted 50 overs.
England won the toss and made a shocking decision to bat first on a good track, even though there were significant overnight showers in Antigua and Barbuda, and cold windy conditions that suited the bowlers.
India made the English pay, snapping early wickets to peg back their rivals. The in-form Jacob Bethell was removed in the second over of the inning, then the other top score, captain Tom Prest, was removed quickly with the score at 18.
Wickets kept falling as the young Englishmen found themselves at 61 for 6 inside 17 overs. But a brilliant 95 from James Rew and brave hitting from the lower order propelled the total to some level of respectability.
The pace, swing and spin by the Indian bowlers were too much for the English batsmen to handle, which saw them crumbled in 44.5 overs.
The combination of Ravi Kumar (4 wickets) and Raj Bawa (5 wickets) were the proverbal torn in the batsmen’s side that resulted in the low score.
In reply, India never looked troubled in their chase as Nishant Sindhu and Shaik Rasheed both enjoyed their time at the crease scoring 50 runs apiece.
Though there was a flurry of wickets at the end, all of the batters enjoyed their time out in the middle and showed determination that the title was returning to India, much to the largest crowd at the tournament.
The Indian team and its supporters celebrated the victory at the ground, featuring the ‘Voice’, and they were treated to a celebration reception hosted by the Indian High Commissioner to Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts-Nevis and Guyana last evening.
