And finally, the wait is over. After four long years, the U19 trophy returns to India as Prithvi Shaw & Co beat Australia by 8 wickets in the ICC Under 19 World Cup 2018 held at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui. Thanks to the unbeaten century by Manjot Kalra at such a crucial game. India became the first nation to enter finals for the sixth time. At the same time, India also became the first nation to have won this tournament for a record 4 times in the history of youth cricket.
After losing the toss, the Indian colts were put to bowl first. The Aussies might have planned to put a good total on the board so that they can put Indian under pressure in the later innings. But the Indian bowlers didn’t let that happen. Just like the previous encounter against Pakistan, Ishan Porel got the first breakthrough for India by dismissing Max Byrant in the 5th over.
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All-rounder Jonathan Merlo scored 76 runs off 102 balls while no other batsmen score more than 34 in the entire inning. Shiva Singh, Ishan Porel, Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Anukul Roy picked up two wickets each while Shivam Mavi got one. The Aussies were bundled up for 216 runs and set a target of 217 for the Indians.
In return, the opening pair of Prithvi Shaw and Manjot Kalra provided a decent start. They added 71 runs for the first wicket before Shaw (29) lost his wicket to Will Sutherland. Later Kalra and Shubman Gill anchored the inning, and added 60 runs for the second wicket.
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After scoring 4 consecutive 50+ scores in this tournament, Shubman Gill, unfortunately, lost his wicket to Param Uppal after scoring 31 runs off 30 balls in the 21st over. But these two losses didn’t bother Manjot Kalra, who played on his own, smashed a century off 101 balls.
Towards the end, Kalra and wicketkeeper Harvik Desai (47*), played brilliantly while their 86-run stand for the third wicket snatched victory from the Aussies.
