India finish runners-up in U-19 WC, lose third straight ICC final vs Australia

Indias batting lineup misfired when it mattered the most as they suffered a heartbreaking 79run loss to Australia in the U19 World Cup final on SundayBatting by choice the Aussies posted a healthy 253 for seven as India were forced to mount the highest chase in a youth World Cup summit clashBut Uday Saharans side floundered in the final step to glory stumbling to 174 all out as the relentless Aussie bowlers led by the furious Mahli Beardman 315 and the crafty offspinner Raf MacMillan 343 did not give them any breathing spaceThis was Australias fourth U19 title and first since 2010 and in a way they also washed away the pain of losing to India in two title matches in 2012 and 2018Many would view this result as a continuation of Australias win over India in the senior World Cup last year at AhmedabadPacer Callum Vidler started Australias victory march by packing off Indian opener Arshin Kulkarni inducing an edge to stumper Ryan HicksFrom that point India simply failed to stitch together any meaningful partnerships as frontline batters including skipper Saharan 8 Musheer Khan who received a reprieve on zero and Sachin Dhas 9 departed without making any real contributionsThe BoysInBlue fought hard but its Australia who win the U19WorldCup Final by 79 runsScorecard httpstcoRytU4cGJLuTeamIndia INDvAUS pictwittercompg2KhIbPx2mdash BCCI BCCI February 11 2024Beardman broke through the defence of Musheer 22 with a delivery that kept a tad low while the pacer tempted Saharan the tournaments highest rungetter with a slightly wide delivery on offstump but his slash ended in the hands of Hugh Weibgen at pointBeardman later added the wicket of opener Adarsh Singh who was Indias highest scorer on the day with a 77ball 47 to bulldoze the Indian batting unit with pace and bounceIf the Indian batters could not cope with the hostility of Beardman a disciple of legendary Dennis Lillee they could not counter the guile of MacMillan Australias lone spinner this dayMacMillan was introduced in the 20th over and he dismissed Dhas off his first ball a regulation catch to Hicks behind the stumpsAlso ReadA shot at unprecedented gloryIndia were reduced to 68 for four then and ouster of the freeflowing Dhas was a body blow to their chancesThe strapping offie later also bagged the wickets of Aravelly Avanish and Raj Limbani preventing any late Indian punch backMurugan Abhishek 42 45b tried gamely in the company of Naman Tiwari adding 46 runs for the ninth wicket highest of the innings but the task proved beyond his reachHowever the Australian batters too can claim the right amount of credit for this triumphNo one really made a tall score but they fired collectively around Harjas Singh 55 64b 3x4 3x6 to give the Antipodeans a competitive total to defend amidst strikes by Indian pacers Limbani 338 and Tiwari 263Limbani who worked up a fair clip from the pitch bowled opener Sam Konstas with a lovely incoming delivery to deny the Aussies a quick start as they have done often in this tournamentBut the Australians found stability through Harry Dixon 42 56 balls and skipper Weibgen 48 66 ballsDixon in fact started off in a blazing fashion hammering leftarm pacer Tiwari 263 for 4 6 4 in the second over but he settled into a more sedate rhythm in the company of WeibgenThe hallmark of their secondwicket alliance of 78 runs in 181 overs was the way they negated the Indian spinners a massive restrictive force throughout this showpieceThere were no big hits but Dixon and Weibgen managed to push the scoreboard forward with those singles and twosJust as the stand was coasting along Saharan threw the ball to Tiwari who was withdrawn after an expensive first spellTiwari answered his leaders call in the perfect fashion getting rid of a set Weibgen whose drive away from the body nestled in the hands of Musheer at pointThe leftarm quick dismissed Dixon two overs later to bring India back into the game The Aussies were 99 for three then But Harjas and Ryan Hicks 20 added 66 runs in 112 overs for the fourth wicket to keep their team afloatHarjas struggled early on but a six and a four in successive balls off offspinner Priyanshu Moliya gave him the muchneeded confidenceThe lefthander was a transformed player from that point and nullified the offbreaks of Abhishek with a series of sweeps and slogsweeps and two of them landed deep inside the stands for maximumsHarjas completed his first fifty of the tournament with a four off Tiwari to longoff but failed to stay longer as another attempt to sweep leftarm spinner Saumey Pandey saw him getting adjudged legbeforeBut Oliver Peake 46 not out off 43 balls and Charlie Anderson 13 added precious 34 runs for the seventhwicket that pushed Aussies to a sufficient totalWith agency inputs