Australia won the Under-19 World Cup in Benoni thanks to a fearsome four-pronged pace attack led by the thunderous Callum Vidler and Mahli Beardman. The pace pack snuffed out seven Indian wickets, bringing their undefeated campaign to a juddering halt after the top order failed to match Australia’s heat and hostility. Beardman did the most damage, finishing with 3 for 15 off seven overs.
Middle-order batsman Harjas Singh, who brought Australia’s innings to a peak with 55 runs, was also largely responsible for the victory. After a poor run of play that saw him score just 49 runs, including a career-high 17, in six innings before the final, Harjas restored the faith of the team management by persevering through a slow start and then smashing India’s excellent spinners to take them to 253 for 7, which was 79 runs too many for India.
Hugh Weibgen’s class of 2024 won the Under-19 World Cup for the first time since Mitchell Marsh’s batch did so in 2010. Australia has now defeated India in three consecutive ICC finals. India’s chase hardly got out of second gear as opener Adarsh Singh patiently made 47 and hung around till the 31st over in the hopes of trying to pull off a late heist after the top order that brushed past attacks in the lead up to the knockouts folded cheaply.
An over after he had hooked a short ball for six, Adarsh misplayed a pull to a sharp Beardman bouncer, which had him gloving to wicketkeeper Ryan Hicks, all but sealing the deal for Australia as India collapsed to 115 for 7.
Murugan Abhishek hit several boundaries in a ninth-wicket stand of 46 with Naman Tiwari, lifting India’s total into double figures – they required 88 off the final 10 overs with two wickets remaining. However, there was never a feeling that they were going for an unlikely win, just postponing the inevitable.
India’s downfall started in the third over itself when Vidler had Arshin Kulkarni nicking behind with a perfect outswinger; Musheer Khan, India’s highest run-scorer, should have been out for zero in the very next over by Charlie Anderson but was put down at slip by Harry Dixon. Tom Straker, their semi-final hero over Pakistan, packed off Tiwari to trigger massive celebrations in the Australian camp as they lifted their fourth title overall.
Uday Saharan, the captain, entered the game without being dismissed for single figures, and his composure helped India win the semi-final, but he was out gliding one to backward point for nine. When Sachin Dhas, the in-form batter, fell nicking behind to offspinner Raf MacMillan in his very first over, India were truly on the ropes.
Musheer hung around to duck and weave his way out of trouble. He had just begun to open up having played a rasping on-drive to get going, but played back to a full delivery and was out bowled to Beardman.
On the other hand, things were slightly different when it came to the ball. First, Dixon took the attack early on, pulling Naman Tiwari for a six in his very first over. But, in just the fourth over, he buckled down as India brought on spin.
Weibgen, who eventually made 48, showed excellent footwork against spin. Raj Limbani, on the other hand, got the ball talking with his big inswing and clean bowled Sam Konstas for an eight-ball duck in the third over.
Australia appeared to be slowly consolidating until Saharan’s brilliant decision to bring back Tiwari for just his second over in the 21st over delivered a double strike. First, Tiwari had Weibgen hit one straight to Musheer at point, and then Dixon looped one to cover with a spongy bouncer that stopped on him.
From 94 for 1, Australia was 99 for 3, in need of a serious repair job. Off the pacers, especially Limbani, he profited from making a quick adjustment by taking a middle-and-off stump guard and getting outside the line of the stumps to eliminate lbw shouts.
A little more busy, enterprising, and using pace to steer the ball nicely behind square, Ryan Hicks broke the spell in the 28th over when he launched part-timer Priyanshu Moliya down the ground and then quickly enough blasted a slog sweep off Murugan for six.
The two had added 66 when Hicks fell lbw to Limbani. Harjas then raised his half-century but could not quite kick on. However, Australia found another gem in Oliver Peake, who played the role of a finisher to perfection.
His 43-ball 46 contributed to Harjas’ eventual push that saw them post 253, which proved to be far more than they needed on this surface with lots of bounce and zip, especially considering Australia’s explosiveness with the ball.
