Townsville (Australia): Unmukt Chand led from the front with a magnificent hundred as India Under-19 lifted their third World Cup title after beating formidable defending champions Australia by six wickets in the final here on Sunday.
This was India U-19’s first triumph after Mohammed Kaif and Virat Kohli led their teams to victory in 2000 and 2008 editions respectively.
Courtesy a magnificent unbeaten 111 by Unmukt and his unbroken partnership of 130 runs with glovesman Smit Patel, India overhauled a competitive target of 226 on a bouncy strip with 14 balls to spare.
It was one of the best centuries one could have witnessed at the junior level as Unmukt hit seven fours and six sixes in his knock.
He completed his century with a six over extra cover off Alex Gregory, but celebrations were muted. The skipper knew that the job was only half done.
Once Smit, who hit an effective 62, slog-swept off-spinner Ashton Turner towards deep mid-wicket for a four a number of Indian supporters rushed to the ground along to celebrate with the team.
Though four wickets were lost in the chase, it never looked like an uphill task for the Indians, who were subdued in the middle overs but accelerated towards the end to get to the target with ease.
After Prashant Chopra was out chasing a delivery down leg side of Mark Steketee without troubling the scorers, Unmukt and in-form batsman Baba Aparajith (33) took the attack to the opposition.
The duo added 73 runs for the second wicket playing the Aussie pace trio of Steketee, Joel Paris and Gurinder Sandhu with ease.
Unmukt hailed the “team spirit and obedience” of his boys after the match.
“We started two years ago. It has been a great journey. Initially we were 15 people from different states but over the time we have evolved into a single unit. The boys have been very obedient and have helped me a lot in this campaign,” Chand, who was adjudged Man-of-the-Match, said.
The skipper also thanked the support staff for their consistent encouragement and said without their help, the campaign would not have been complete.
In Mumbai, Junior selection panel chairman Abey Kuruvilla termed the triumph as a terrific team performance, saying, “There was always someone to deliver the goods when the team was under pressure.” (PTI)
SCORECARD
Australia Under-19s innings:
C Bancroft lbw b Sandeep 2
J Peirson b Sandeep 0
M Buchanan c Patel b R’kant 12
K Patterson b Aparajith 16
W Bosisto not out 87
T Head run out 37
A Turner c Chand b Sandeep 43
A Gregory c Nath b Sandeep 4
J Paris run out 0
G Sandhu not out 10
Extras (B-1, LB-5, W-6, NB-2) 14
Total (8 wickets; 50 overs) 225
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-8, 3-38, 4-38, 5-103, 6-196, 7-204, 8-206
Bowling: Sharma 10-2-54-4, Passi 9-0-44-0, Ravikant 9-0-41-1, Aparajith 10-0-31-1, Harmeet 10-1-36-0, Chand 2-0-13-0
India Under-19s innings:
P Chopra c Peirson b Steketee 0
U Chand not out 111
B Aparajith c Turner b Sandhu 33 H Vihari c & b Turner 4
V Zol c Peirson b Paris 1
S Patel not out 62
Extras (LB 5, W 11) 16
Total (4 wickets; 47.4 overs) 227
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-75, 3-82, 4-97
Bowling: Paris 10-2-33-1, Steketee 9-1-47-1, Sandhu 10-0-43-1, Turner 8.4-1-42-1, Gregory 6-0-40-0, Head 4-0-17-0