Mirpur: India’s chances of defending the ICC U-19 World Cup took a blow as, the Men-in-Blue were all out for just 145 against the West Indies at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur on Sunday. Sarfaraz Khan (51 off 89 balls) was the lone Indian fighter, while Alzarri Joseph and Ryan John ended with three wickets each for the West Indies.
Afetr being sent in to bat by the Windies, India were in for a horrible start as it lost the first five wickets for just 50 runs with 18 overs. Rishab Pant was the first to go on the fourth ball of the innings, while Anmolpreet Singh followed in the third over with India’s score at 8.
Thereafter, it never got easy for India to recover and forge a partnership with the West Indians firing in all cylinders from both the ends. The West Indies’ called the shots from the very first over and troubled the Indian batsmen with short-pitched deliveries and bouncers. Alzarri Joseph, Chemar Holder and Ryan John were the pick of the bowlers with Joseph taking three for 39, John three for 38 and Holder ending with one for 20.
Earlier, India had entered into their fifth final under the coach Rahul Dravid, winning all their three league games as well the knock-outs. And if they manage to win the final today, India will surpass Australia for the most number of titles in the U-19 World Cup.
Brief Score:
India 1 Rishabh Pant (wk) 2 Ishan Kishan (capt) 3 Anmolpreet Singh 4 Sarfaraz Khan 5 Washington Sundar 6 Armaan Jaffer 7 Mahipal Lomror 8 Mayank Dagar 9 Rahul Batham 10 Avesh Khan 11 Khaleel Ahmed
West Indies 1 Gidron Pope 2 Tevin Imlach (wk) 3 Shimron Hetmyer (capt) 4 Keacy Carty 5 Shamar Springer 6 Jyd Goolie 7 Keemo Paul 8 Michael Frew 9 Ryan John 10 Chemar Holder 11 Alzarri Joseph
Toss - West Indies Under-19s, who chose to field
