Vaibhav Suryavanshi stars as India claim record-extending sixth U19 WC title with 100-run victory vs England in the final

Team India claimed their record-extending sixth U19 World Cup title with a comprehsive 100-run victory England in the final on Friday. Vaibhav Suryavanshi proved to be the star of the show with his stunning knock of 175 runs from just 80 deliveries, including 15 boundaries and sixes each. On the other hand, pacer RS Ambrish was the pick of the bowlers and racked up three important wickets. They had previously won the prestigious title in 2000, 2008, 2012, 2018 and 2022.

After winning the toss, India opted to bat first and formed a mammoth total of 411/9 on the board in 50 overs. In reply, England got bundled out for 311 runs as the Men in Blue's unbeaten streak in the tournament remained intact and they made it seven victories in a row.

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Though India lost Aaron George early in the fourth over, Suryavanshi ensured that the team got off to a flying start. The teenage batting sensation smacked boundaries all around the Harare Sports Club and piled on runs at a rapid pace. Skipper Ayush Mhatre gave him a decent bit of support from the other end and the duo formed a humongous stand of 142 runs.

India post enormous total

Suryavanshi reached his century after facing just 55 deliveries and kept on batting in his rhythm. While Mhatre got dismissed after playing a valiant knock of 53, the left-hander continued to terrorise the English bowlers and reached the 150-run mark soon after. He eventually got dismissed for 175 by Manny Lumsden in the 26th over, but the damage was already done. The Men in Blue ended up crossing the 400-run mark in the final few overs of their innings thanks to impactful cameos from the likes of Vedant Trivedi (32), Vihaan Malhotra (30), Abhigyan Kundu (40) and Kanishk Chouhan (37). 

In reply, Ambrish got the big breakthrough for India in the fifth over and dismissed Joseph Moores for 17 runs in the fifth over. However, a strong partnership between Ben Dawkins and Ben Mayes put the Indian bowlers on the back-foot. The stand was broken by Khilan Patel as he got rid of Mayes for 45 runs in the 13th over. Dawkins' knock of 66 and Thomas Rew's cameo of 31 didn't get England anywhere close to the target and they ended up being restricted to 177/7 at one stage.

Falconer kept England in the fight

However, Caleb Falconer kept the team in the game and formed a big partnership alongside James Minto. It was Ambrish who got the all-important wicket of the latter and restricted the Three Lions down to 269/8. This didn't stop Falconer from punishing the Indian bowling attack and he went on to hit a fine hundred. However, the 412-run target proved to be too much for the team as Falconer was the final player to lose his wicket and got sent back by Chouhan for 115 runs. England got bowled out for 311 runs in 40.2 overs, handing India the victory by a massive margin.