Benoni, South Africa
AUSTRALIA CLINCH U19 MEN’S CRICKET WORLD CUP CROWN WITH EMPHATIC WIN OVER INDIA
Australia’s terrific U19 World Cup side have emulated their seniors by beating India to become champions of the world.
A dominant Australian side produced a superb all-round performance to secure their fourth ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup crown, overcoming a formidable Indian side amid a vibrant final atmosphere at Willowmoore Park, Benoni on Sunday.
Led by Hugh Weibgen, Australia put in an exceptional display in the blockbuster finale, first posting the highest total ever recorded in a U19 Men’s CWC final and then executing a flawless display of bowling to dismantle India’s chase and secure the win by 79 runs. After compiling a daunting 7-253 off their 50 overs, the Australians, with their “ferocious” young quartet of fast bowlers and the artful spin of Raf MacMillan, skittled out India’s previously unbeaten side for 174 off 43.5 overs at Willowmoore Park.
Australian skipper Hugh Weibgen was proud of the effort from his team, especially the quicks, and also had a few words of encouragement for India.
“Our plan was to bat first and try and get runs on the board. We backed ourselves. A quality innings from Harjas [Singh]. Full credit to the coaches for sticking with him. They [pacers] can go far as a unit, they know their roles so well. I’ll be surprised if the four of them don’t go a long way in their careers. India are a class side, they dominated the whole tournament, just came out on the wrong side.”
Indian captain Uday Saharan commended the fighting spirit of his team and hoped to learn from the experience.
“I’m proud of the boys, they played very well and showed good fighting spirit. We played a few rash shots and didn’t spend time in the middle. We were prepared but couldn’t quite execute well. There are a lot of learnings from the tournament. We learnt a lot from the coaches and support staff and more importantly from the games themselves.”
