On Sunday (February 11), Australia won comfortably by 79 runs against India in the 2024 Under 19 World Cup final at Willowmoore Park in Benoni.
This was Australia’s third triumph versus India in the ICC event finals in the past nine months. In 2023, the senior Indian Men’s team lost the WTC and ODI World Cup finals against the Australians.
Hugh Weibgen, Australia’s U19 captain, won the toss and chose to bat first in the match. They managed to score a respectable total of 253/7 in 50 overs on a challenging surface. Harjas Singh (55), Hugh Weibgen (48), Harry Dixon (42), and Oliver Peake (46) made significant contributions in the batting department.
Australia’s fast bowlers cleverly utilized the helpful conditions and challenged the dueling batters by delivering fast throws. Consequently, India started off weak, with the score moving painfully slow during the powerplay.
After Musheer Khan’s (22) exit in the 13th over, the Asian squad never recovered and continued to lose wickets at regular intervals. They were reduced to 122/8 in the 32nd over. Murugan Abhishek (42) and Naman Tiwari (14) put off the inevitable for a while with a 46-run stand for the ninth wicket. India was subsequently bowled out for 174 in 43.5 overs, losing the match by 79 runs.
Cricket fans took note of Australia’s strong performance versus India in an ICC tournament final and shared their thoughts on X. A fan wrote:
“Real owners of Indians in very BIG knock out game. Inject….”
Here are some of the top reactions:
Uday Saharan rues poor execution after India’s U19 World Cup final defeat
Speaking at the post-match presentation, India U19 captain Uday Saharan remarked on his team’s performance in the World Cup, saying:
“Very proud of all the boys, everybody contributed towards the eventual result and that is something to be proud of. The preparation was good but the execution wasn’t, some of the boys played some rash shots, had they stayed around for longer, we could have had a different result. We have learnt a lot from the tournament and we will take plenty of positives from here.”
Uday Saharan