Bangladeshi young guns create history.
The under-19 World Cup final for 2020 had it all. Subcontinent neighbors India and Bangladesh reached the final without dropping a game. Bangladesh had one game washed out against Pakistan. Other than that game, they won all their games. India dominated their way to their third consecutive under-19 cricket World Cup final.
Both sides had players with previous first-class cricket experience. It promised to be a cracker of a game and it did not disappoint.
India batted first at JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom on Sunday evening. Rising star, Yashasvi Jaiswal opened with Divyansh Saxena. Bangladeshi fast-bowler, Avishek Das bowled an aggressive spell of fast bowling. The pacer was in the Indian openers’ face, sledging, and death-staring them.
Divyansh Saxena was the first batsman to depart for 2 off 17 balls. Mahmudul Hasan Joy caught him off the bowling of Avishek Das, 4 balls into the 7th over.
Yashasvi Jaiswal showed why he is a star of the future with a brilliant 88 off 121 balls which contained 8 fours and 1 six. India was in a decent position with Jaiswal and Tilak Verma putting on a partnership of 96 for the 2nd wickets.
Tanzid Hasan Sakib removed Verma for 38 off 65 balls. India lost captain Priyam Garg for 7 off 9 balls to Rakibul Hasan and once Jaiswal departed, India collapsed like a pack of cards. India was 4/156 after 39.5 overs when Jaiswal departed. 7.4 overs later, they were 177.
Nobody except Jaiswal, Verma, and no.5, Dhruv Jurel passed double figures for India with the bat. Jurel was run-out as there was confusion between him and Atharva Ankolekar. Both batsmen ended up running towards the non-striker’s end.
For the Bangladeshis, Avishek Das picked up 3/40 off 9 overs, while Shariful Islam and Tanzid Hasan Sakib picked up 2/31 off 10 overs and 2/28 off 8.2 overs.
With 177 to chase off 50 overs, the Bangladeshis would definitely have fancied themselves for a maiden under-19 World Cup title. Their openers gave them a perfect start with 50 runs off 8.5 overs. India needed something real quick and the impressive young leg-spinner, Ravi Bishnoi delivered the goods for his team.
Bishnoi snared 4 quick wickets within the space of 7.2 overs. Bishnoi removed Tanzid Hasan Sakib, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Towhid Hridoy and Shahadat Hossain. The situation got worse for Bangladesh during that period as the opener, Parvez Hossain Emon, went off injured around he 14th over the mark.
The situation was difficult with the score at 6/103, with both Shamim Hossain and Avishek Das being dismissed by Sushant Mishra. However, the young opener Emon did show a lot of courage to come back and bat with his captain, Akbar Ali. The part-time leg-spinner, Yashasvi Jaswal dismissed Emon for 47 off 79 balls.
The score was 7/143 when Emon departed. Rain reduced to the match to 46-over affair and the target for Bangladesh was 170. Bangladesh captain, Akbar Ali and Rakibul Hasan helped guide the Bangladeshis home.
Bangladesh became the under-19 World champions. Akbar Ali’s team won the game with 3 wickets and 3.5 overs to spare. The team ran on to the pitch with their nation’s flag, screaming with joy, and an unfortunate scuffle broke out between some of the Indian and Bangladeshi players.
The scuffle led to 3 Bangladeshi and 2 Indian players receiving punishments from the ICC.
For, India, with the ball, Ravi Bishnoi finished with 4/30 off 10 overs and Sushant Mishra bowled 7 overs for figures of 2/25.
Bangladeshi fans will remember the final for a long time. India missed out on a 5th u-19 World Cup. Yashasvi Jaiswal received the man of the tournament for his performances. He scored 400 runs at an average of 133.33, with 3 half-centuries and 1 century.
The strong Bangladeshi contingent was amazing in support of their young team. They were vocal and supported their boys throughout the tournament.
Captain, Akbar Ali, summed it up as a dream come true. He hopes that this tournament will be the starting stone for his team as they aim to achieve higher honors for their country.
The Indian players will also hope they can reach higher honors for their country.
The likes of Ravi Bishnoi and Yashasvi Jaiswal will also aim for higher honors for their nation. The game was a wonderful way to conclude the 2020 Under-19 World Cup and a few players from all nations will represent their nation at the international level.
