Australia defeated India in the Under-19 World Cup 2024 final by 79 runs to secure their fourth title on February 11. After setting India a challenging target of 254 to win, riding on Harjas Singh's impressive knock, the Australian pacers dominated Uday Saharan's young brigade, dismissing them for 174. Australia's total of 253/7 stands as the highest total in a U19 World Cup final. Mahli Beardman's figures of 3/15 and Raf MacMillan's 3/43 were instrumental in Australia's victory.
Harjas Singh's heroics on the fore
Harjas Singh played a crucial innings of 55 in the U-19 World Cup final against India. His innings helped Australia to post a record total which eventually powered them to the Under-19 World Cup 2024 title.
Despite a lacklustre performance in earlier matches, where he only managed 49 runs across six innings, Harjas stepped up for the team when it mattered most. He draws inspiration from Australian veteran Usman Khawaja.
Who Is Harjas Singh?
Harjas was born in Sydney in 2005, five years after his father relocated to the city from Chandigarh, India. He began his cricketing journey at the Revesby Workers Cricket Club when he was just eight years old. Harjas' father, Inderjit Singh, was a state boxing champion in Chandigarh, Punjab, while his mother, Avinder Kaur, excelled as a state-level long jumper.
Ahead of the World Cup, Harjas disclosed that his family still resides in India, and his last visit to the country was in 2015.
"I still have family back in Chandigarh and Amritsar. We have a house in Sector 44-D, but the last time I was there was 2015.
Thereafter, cricket took over, and I never got the opportunity. My uncle still lives there."
Meanwhile, Harjas spoke about his knock in the World Cup final, highlighting that his proficiency in playing spin was instrumental in scoring crucial runs.
"To start off, the pacers and spinners were bowling well. I took my time with the field spread out, then when the bad balls were there to hit, I hit them. Playing spin is certainly my strong point and we had our tour to Sri Lanka in the off period, that has certainly helped me. We are happy with this total, given our bowling performance a how good our quicks have been. Hopefully, we can defend it," Harjas said before India's batting.
Uday Saharan-led India's batting lineup faltered when it needed the most, leading to a heartbreaking 79-run defeat against Australia in the final of the U-19 World Cup held in Benoni on Sunday. Choosing to bat first, Australia posted a challenging total of 253 for seven, propelled by Oliver Peake's dynamic 43-ball 46 and Harjas Singh's composed 55 off 64 balls. Subsequently, Australia returned to bowl out the five-time champion India for 174 runs in 43.5 overs, clinching their fourth U-19 World Cup title. In pursuit of 254, opener Adarsh Singh contributed a resilient 77-ball 47, but India's batting lineup faced consistent setbacks, collapsing to 122 for eight in 31.5 overs.
Despite a spirited effort from No. 8 batsman Murugan Abhishek, who scored 42 runs off 46 balls, India's revival came too late and proved insufficient to alter the outcome. Meanwhile, the defeat evoked memories of the Indian senior team's heart-wrenching loss to Australia in the 50-over World Cup final held at home in November of the previous year.
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