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Prithvi Shaw and his team won a record fourth Under-19 World Cup. India, who now has five Under-19 trophies had only three in 2018 before the finals and was tied with their opponent in the finals, Australia. India had previously won the trophy in 2000, 2008 and 2012 while their opponents, Australia were the champions in 1988, 2002 and 2010. Since their record fourth title in 2018, India has won another title. With five titles to their name, they are the most successful nation in the history of the tournament.
2018 Under-19 World Cup
The 16 teams were divided into four groups fighting for the eight quarterfinal spots. From Group A, New Zealand U-19 and South Africa U-19 progressed while West Indies U-19 and Kenya U-19 remained at the bottom. Group B had the eventual finalists with India U-19 topping the group while Zimbabwe U-19 and PNG U-19 failed to qualify. England U-19 and Bangladesh U-19 qualified from Group C beating Canada U-19 and Namibia U-19. In Group D, Pakistan U-19 and Afghanistan U-19 went through while Sri Lanka U-19 and Ireland U-19 grabbed the third and fourth place respectively.
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Australia U-19 road to final
- Australia started their campaign against India. India defeated Australia by 100 runs thanks to a match-winning knock of 94 runs by Indian skipper, Prithvi Shaw.
- They were back to winning ways in their next match with a victory against Zimbabwe U-19. Fast bowler, Xavier Bartlett was the star performer against Zimbabwe with a three-wicket haul restricting the opponent to just 134 helping his side to achieve a seven-wicket win.
- Nathan McSweeney in the next match against the PNG U-19 scored 156 runs in just 111 balls while PNG was bowled out for just 59 runs losing the match by 311 runs.
- Australia met arch-rivals, England in the quarter-final and were put on the backfoot in the first innings after being bowled out for just 127 runs. The Harry Brook-led side looked on course to win the match and progress to the semi-finals before Lloyd Pope entered the fray. Leg-spinner, Pope dismantled the English side with an 8-wicket haul as Australia won the match by 31 runs.
- In the semi-final against Afghanistan, Jack Edwards was the star performer for the Aussies. The opening batter picked up a wicket in the first innings as Afghanistan was bowled out for 181 runs and scored 72 runs in the second innings to win the match.
- Australia and India met in the finals at Mount Maunganui and a scintillating century from Manjot Kalra crashed Australia’s hopes of winning their fourth title.
India U-19 road to glory
- In the first match against Australia U-19, Shaw, Kalra and Shubman Gill registered 50+ scores and an eight-ball-23-run cameo from Abhishek Sharma helped India to post a total of 328 runs. The total proved to be too much for Australia, despite a half-century from Jack Edwards, they lost the match by 100 runs.
- Against PNG U-19, Indian bowlers were on top thanks to a five-wicket haul from all-rounder, Anukul Roy. PNG was bowled out for 64 runs a total that Shaw and Kalra chased down in eight overs without losing any wicket.
- In the final group-stage game against Zimbabwe, India showed a similar performance. Roy was once again among the wickets picking up a four-wicket haul while Arshdeep Singh and Abhishek Sharma picked up two wickets and Riyan Parag and Shivam Mavi picked up a wicket each. Harvik Desai and Gill were asked to open in the second innings and they made full use of the opportunity as Gill went on to score 90 runs in just 59 balls which meant that India won their second game in a row by 10 wickets.
- In the quarter-finals, the Shaw-led side met with Bangladesh U-19. Gill scored 86 runs in 94 balls while a half-century from Sharma meant that India was bowled out for 265 runs in the first innings. Kamlesh Nagarkoti came to the party in the second innings picking up a three-fer while Sharma and Mavi picked two wickets each. Two run-outs and a wicket from Roy meant that Bangladesh was bowled out for 134 runs losing the match by 131 runs.
- India met arch-rivals, Pakistan in the semi-final. Winning the toss, Shaw decided to bat first and was backed by his batters. After the openers were dismissed for scores of 40s, Gill took the baton and scored an unbeaten century to help India post a total of 272 runs. In the second innings, Ishan Porel took four wickets while Shiva Singh and Parag picked up two wickets each. Roy and Sharma picked up a wicket each as Pakistan was bowled out for 69 runs.
- A century from Kalra and two wickets each from Porel, Singh, Nagarkoti and Roy meant that India won their fourth Under-19 World Cup title by defeating Australia by eight wickets.