India’s Under-19 over the moon after winning World Cup
The cricket world watched how India steamrolled the Aussies in the final to annex an unprecedented fourth ICC U-19 World Cup title. (Source: PTI) The cricket world watched how India steamrolled the Aussies in the final to annex an unprecedented fourth ICC U-19 World Cup title. (Source: PTI)
Towards the end, it became a little tense for Manjot Kalra. Harvik Desai started hitting boundaries and Kalra had been off the strike for a while. At the start of the 39th over, the India U-19 were on 212/5; the victory target of 217 just one big hit away. Desai was on strike against Will Sutherland, with Kalra at the other end on 99.
The India colts keeper-batsman took a single to third man off the first ball. Kalra reached his hundred in the next delivery, tucking an inswinger to square leg. Three balls hence Desai hit a boundary and India were over the line in a blaze of glory.
Kalra jumped in the air, his gold earring flashed under the night sky at Bay Oval, and his team mates, assembled outside the boundary ropes, started celebrating. From his position at short cover, Australia U-19 captain Jason Sangha walked up to the Indian opener and broke into a brief conversation after congratulating the centurion. Sangha knew how Kalra bossed India’s chase in the final. The cricket world watched how India steamrolled the Aussies in the final to annex an unprecedented fourth ICC U-19 World Cup title.
Kalra remained unbeaten on 101 off 102 balls , with eight fours and three sixes, to become the fifth batsman, second Indian after Unmukt Chand, to score a century in an U-19 World Cup final. The 19-year-old left-hander from Delhi missed three figures by 14 runs in India’s tournament opener against Australia at the same venue 20 days ago. Then, he was in the shadow of Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill. The two poster boys of India U-19 batting got out after getting starts in the final – done in by two very good deliveries. Kalra rose to prominence, attesting to the fact that Young India revelled in team effort.
The pitch looked pretty decent for batting. But when rain arrived four overs into India’s innings and freshened up the surface a bit, the openers, Shaw and Kalra, needed to be a little more careful. Playing through a light drizzle Kalra had sent Zak Evans 10 rows back over long-on to fully capitalise on a free-hit. A 25-minute stoppage forced the batsmen to start afresh.
Shaw, however, took control of the proceedings after resumption, unleashing an excellent back foot cover drive off Evans followed by two exquisite front foot cover drives against Ryan Hadley. In between, Kalra’s straight drive off Evans to a delivery that swung late received big applause from a pretty good turnout at the ground.
A gear shift ensued through three fours from Kalra against Jack Edwards. The first one was a lovely square cut to a delivery that kicked off a length. The second was a cover drive to a half-volley and the third was a gorgeous off drive. In the context of the game it was a pivotal passage of play – the three shots put Kalra in the driver’s seat.
Sutherland cleaned up Shaw in the next over with a beautiful leg-cutter. Gill came and started to bat like a man in imperious form. Kalra had already grown in confidence. He slog-swept Lloyd Pope over deep mid-wicket into the grass banks. His half-century came in 47 balls.
India shifted to cruise mode and a frustrated Jonathan Merlo gave Gill some lip that the Punjab boy duly ignored. It looked like he was on course for another 50-plus score, when Param Uppal drew him out with a beautiful off-break and breached his defence.
Mature head on shoulders
Kalra showed his maturity post Gill’s dismissal. He eschewed all risky shots but still maintained a 100-plus strike-rate, rotating the strike brilliantly. He slowed down a little towards the back end of his innings but by then an Indian win became a formality. An unbroken 89-run third wicket partnership between Kalra and Desai (47 not out) secured an eight-wicket victory, with 67 balls remaining.
The boys celebrated, but didn’t go overboard. Such was their record in this tournament – played six, won six – that even a wallop in the final felt like business as usual.
“It was the final of the World Cup so I was a bit nervous initially, but I was OK then. Yes, it’s my best knock. It’s a World Cup final and I got a hundred and we won the game. I will remember this for a long time,” Man of the Match Kalra said.
Gill, Man of the Series for his 372 runs in six matches, recounted the journey. “There was some pressure before the semifinal against Pakistan. But Rahul sir said my role is not to slog, asked me to bat for 50 overs. The first match against Australia was the turning point for us.”
Earlier, Australia won the toss and got off to a good start before Ishan Porel pegged them back with two wickets. Kamlesh Nagarkoti dismissed Sangha, with Desai taking the catch diving to his right.
Uppal was looking comfortable against pace and started forging a partnership with Nathan McSweeney. Anukul Roy, the tournament’s highest wicket-taker, broke the partnership, holding one back and deceiving Uppal in the flight.
Another left-arm spinner, Shiva Singh, came into the final with only two scalps against his name. The team management, however, recognised his value as a run-choker. Today, Singh took two wickets, accounting for McSweeney and Sutherland. He also effected the run-out of Baxter Holt with a piece of fielding that would have made even Ravindra Jadeja proud. From 183/5 in the 40th over, Australia slumped to 216 all out in 47.2 overs. Merlo’s 76 was the sole silver lining.
Rahul Dravid’s illustrious career had a World Cup triumph as the only missing piece. Today his wards allowed him to lay his hands on the Cup. Little wonder then that the great man was “really proud” of the boys. He described the success as a culmination of the effort the whole squad had put in over the past 14 months.
Dravid, also, spoke about the colts’ future. “Hopefully it’s a memory they (players) will cherish for a long time, and hopefully it’s not a memory that defines them and they will have a lot bigger and better memories as they go on ahead in their careers.”
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