Bowlers once again did a fine job upfront as India, chasing a fifth title, bundled England out for 189 in the final of the U-19 World Cup at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua, on Saturday.
England, batting first after winning the toss, were undone by spells from left-arm quick Ravi Kumar and all-rounder Raj Bawa, who struck with his right-arm fast bowling. Bawa finished with a five-for (5/31) off his 9.5 overs, while Ravi took 4/34 in nine overs as England were all out with still 31 balls left in their innings.
That the England colts could cross 150 was mainly due to an excellent knock from James Rew (95 off 116 balls), who also stitched a stoic, resilient stand of 93 for the eighth wicket with James Sales (34 not out). Rew deserved a hundred, but he perished at deep square leg for 95, trying to reach the landmark with a pull off the bowling of Ravi. The Bengal seamer struck again in the same over by getting a nick off the edge of Thomas Aspinwall.
Though Bawa finished with the best figures for the Indian colts, it was Ravi who again gave the side the start they needed with early inroads. Swing being his weapon, Ravi got one to move just a little bit to trap the left-handed Jacob Bethell plumb lbw in the penultimate ball of the second over.
In his very next over, Ravi picked up his second, taking the crucial wicket of rival skipper Tom Prest, who was out played-on for nought. He then returned in his final spell to break the stubborn resistance put up by Rew and Sales, which was certainly bothering the Indians, before removing Aspinwall.
To speak of Bawa, he cleaned up England’s middle order. Wicketless in the last four matches after striking four times in India’s tournament opener versus South Africa U-19, Bawa was a tad fortunate as some English batsmen played loose strokes.
Having said that, he bowled a beauty of a short-pitched delivery that caught the in-form George Bell by surprise and led to the latter’s dismissal off the very first ball he faced, with wicketkeeper Dinesh Bana taking a neat catch behind.
That wicket left Bawa on a hat-trick as England then were 47/5 after 13 overs. He got his fourth, drawing Rehan Ahmed forward and inducing an edge to first slip before accounting for England No.11 Joshua Boyden without breaking any sweat.
Brief scores
England U-19 189 in 44.5 overs (J. Rew 95; R. Bawa 5/31, R. Kumar 4/34) vs India U-19 (At the end of 1st innings).
