ICC 2018 Under 19 World Cup: Prithvi Shaw-led India's road to triumphant final
Mumbai: The Prithvi Shaw-led India U-19 cricket team produced a memorable performance in the final of the ICC U-19 World Cup in New Zealand, leading the Boys in Blue to an eight-wicket win over Australia on Saturday.
Also read: Under-19 World Cup final, India vs Australia: 5 talking points from the game
The Indian colts played like champions throughout the tournament, and won each and every match in the tournament by a huge margin.
Following their triumph, we look at India’s road to glory in this edition’s World Cup.
Read more: Prithvi Shaw, Virat Kohli and other Indian captains to win ICC Under 19 World Cup
India vs Australia, Group match: India won by 100 runs
The Boys in Blue had a dream start to the tournament in their earlier clash against the Aussies. After winning the toss, India decided to bat first, which seemed to have worked. Prithvi Shaw (94), Manjot Kalra (86) and Shubman Gill (63) were the top-scorers for India as they finished the innings at 328-7. Later on, Shivam Mavi (3/45) and Kamlesh Nagarkoti (3/29) starred as India, who had scored 328 runs batting first, outplayed the 2010 champions in style, winning the match by 100 runs.
India vs Papua New Guinea, Group match: India won by 10 wickets
Undoubtedly, this was one of the most one-sided matches in this year’s edition of the Under-19 World Cup. The Boys in Blue once again won the toss, and put the minnows to bat. PNG’s Ovia Sam was the top-scorer for them, as they were bowled out for just 64 as left-arm spinner Anukul Roy ran through the PNG middle-order scalping five wickets (5/14). The Indians had it easy in reply, as Prithvi Shaw’s unbeaten 36-ball 57-run knock led them to a ten-wicket win.
India vs Zimbabwe, Group match: India won by 10 wickets
Prithvi Shaw’s men posted their second consecutive ten-wicket win, by thrashing Zimbabwe. The African side won the toss and opted to bat. However, it was Anukul Roy who starred with four wickets (4/20), bowling out Zimbabwe for 154. In reply, it was Shubman Gill, who hammered unbeaten 90 runs off 59 balls and wicketkeeper-batsman Harvik Desai scored unbeaten 56 off 73 balls to seal yet another big Indian win.
India vs Bangladesh, Super League Quarterfinal: India won by 131 runs
It was a repeat of the senior Indian men’s team’s clash with Bangladesh in the ICC World Cup 2015 quarterfinal, which ended up in the same result. Batting first, Shubnam Gill steered India to 265 before the Indian bowlers bundled out Bangladesh for 134. Kamlesh Nagarkoti picked up three wickets (3/18) and Shivam Mavi (2/27) and Abhishek Sharma (2/11) scalped two wickets each to steer the 2012 champions to the last four with a 131-run win.
India vs Pakistan, Super League Semifinal: India won by 203 runs
India outplayed Pakistan in another one-sided clash between the two teams as they completed a mammoth 203-run win to set up a final clash with Australia, a replay of the earlier group stage match. While openers Shaw and Manjot scored crucial 40s opening the innings, it was Gill, whose unbeaten hundred (102*) was the highlight of Indian innings as the team scored 272/9 while batting first. In reply, Pakistan lost all hopes of advancing further as they were bowled out for 69, courtesy four wickets by Ishan Porel, who denied Pakistan any opportunity to think of chasing down the Indian total.
India vs Australia, Final: India won by eight wickets
Just like the previous matches, the final of the ICC U-19 World Cup too was dominated by the Boys in Blue. Jonathan Merlo’s 76 was the only takeaway from Australia’s innings as the Indian bowlers scalped wickets to bowl out the three-time champions for 216. Manjot Kalra was the star for India in their run chase, scoring a match-winning 101 to take Prithvi Shaw’s men home.
As a result, this was India’s fourth Under-19 World Cup title, thereby becoming the first team to win four titles.
