Tauranga: India defeated Australia by eight wickets to claim the ICC U19 World Cup for a record fourth time here on Saturday.
Electing to bat first, Australia were dismissed for 216 runs in 47.2 overs. Ishan Porel, Shiva Singh and Anukul Roy picked up two wickets each for India.
Opener Manoj Kalra then spearheaded the Indian run chase with an unbeaten century as the Boys in Blue romped to victory with 67 balls to spare.
Kalra remained unbeaten on 101 runs off 102 deliveries while Harvik Desai was not out on 47 at the other end.
Desai brought up the title win in style, smashing a boundary off Australian pacer Will Sutherland.
India thus became the first nation to win the ICC U19 World Cup four times. They had earlier won the title in 2000, 2008 and 2012.
Australia are second on the list with three titles.
This is the second time that India have defeated Australia in the final. They had earlier defeated the boys from Down Under in the final of the 2012 edition.
President, PM congratulate World Cup wining U19 team
New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday congratulated the Indian Cricket team.
“Congrats to India’s talented young cricket team for winning the Under-19 World Cup. Calmness and composure of our boys embellishes their skills. Proud of captain Prithvi Shaw and his mates, as well as of coach Rahul Dravid and the hard-working support staff,” the President said.
The Prime Minister also congratulated the team saying that their win makes every Indian “extremely” proud.
“Absolutely thrilled by the stupendous achievement of our young cricketers. Congratulations to them on winning the Under-19 World Cup. This triumph makes every Indian extremely proud,” Modi said.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi too took to twitter and said: “Congratulations Team India on your resounding U-19 Cricket World Cup win! India takes great pride in the success of its new generation of cricket stars.”
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the men in blue saying: “Congratulations to the Indian cricket team, captain Prithvi Shaw and coach Rahul Dravid on winning the U-19 Cricket World Cup.”
Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah greeted the team on their victory saying their unbeatable spirit throughout has brought the U-19 World Cup.
