India take on Australia in the U19 Cricket World Cup final, at the Sahara Park Willowmoore Cricket Stadium in Benoni on Sunday. India will also be looking to win back-to-back titles, and are the most successful team in this tournament with five trophies.
Australia qualified for the final after a thrilling win in the semi-finals against Pakistan, winning by one wicket. Lower-order batter Oliver Peake smacked a match-winning 49 to help his side seal a berth in the final. Meanwhile, India eased past South Africa in their semi-final fixture, winning by two wickets.
Road to final – India
India began their campaign with an easy 84-run victory against arch-rivals Bangladesh, followed by a massive 201-run win against Ireland. In their final group stage fixture, India thrashed hosts USA by 201 runs.
In the Super Six stage, India cruised past New Zealand (by 214 runs) and Nepal (by 132 runs), to set up a semi-final clash against South Africa, which they won by two wickets.
India have been the strongest team in this tournament, with three batters in the top-five run-scorers. Captain Uday Saharan is the tournament’s highest run-scorer with 389 runs in six matches, followed by Musheer Khan in third place with 338 in six games. Meanwhile, Sachin Dhas is third with 294 runs in six fixtures. On the other hand, Saumy Pandey is the tournament’s third-highest wicket-taker with 17 wickets in six matches, including a four-fer.
Road to final – Australia
The Aussies started off with a four-wicket win against Namibia and then hammered Zimbabwe by 225 runs, followed by a six-wicket victory against Sri Lanka. Then in the Super Six stage, Australia beat England by 110 runs (via DLS method) and then their fixture against West Indies was washed out due to rain. In the semi-finals, a narrow one-wicket win against Pakistan saw them reach the finals.
Squads
India: Arshin Kulkarni, Adarsh Singh, Rudra Mayur Patel, Sachin Dhas, Priyanshu Moliya, Musheer Khan, Uday Saharan (captain), Aravelly Avanish Rao, Saumy Kumar Pandey, Murugan Abhishek, Innesh Mahajan, Dhanush Gowda, Aaradhya Shukla, Raj Limbani, Naman Tiwari.
Australia: Hugh Weibgen (captain), Lachlan Aitken, Charlie Anderson, Harkirat Bajwa, Mahli Beardman, Tom Campbell, Harry Dixon, Ryan Hicks, Sam Konstas, Rafael MacMillan, Aidan O’Connor, Harjas Singh, Tom Straker, Callum Vidler, Ollie Peake.
Live streaming and telecast
The India vs Australia U19 World Cup final will be broadcasted live on Indian televisions via Star Sports network, and will also be live streamed on Hotstar.
