True grit! Dhull, Rasheed’s classy knocks win the day

Skipper Yash Dhull gave a glimpse of his rare talent with a wellpaced hundred which guided powerhouse India into its fourth consecutive U-19 World Cup final with an emphatic 96-run win over Australia in Osbourn.

Dhull struck a sublime 110 in as many balls and shared a game-changing 204-run stand with his deputy Shaik Rasheed (94 off 108 balls) to fire India to a formidable 290 for five after opting to bat on Wednesday. Indian bowlers then performed their roles to perfection to bowl Australia out for 194 in 41.5 overs. Lachlan Shaw’s fine 51 came too late in the day for Australia.

Pacers Rajvardhan Hangargekar (0/26) and Ravi Kumar (2/37) were impressive in the first powerplay before spinners Nishant Sindhu (2/25), Vicky Ostwal (3/42) and Kaushal Tambe (1/32) dominated the opposition in the middle overs.

Record four-time champions India face England in the final on Saturday and will be aiming to extend their dominance in the competition.

Dhull became the third Indian captain to hit a hundred in the tournament history after the illustrious Virat Kohli (2008) and the prodigious Unmukt Chand (2012), who also hails from Delhi.

Australian pacers bowled well in the opening powerplay and the fact that Indian openers Angkrish Raghuvanshi (6 off 30) and Harnoor Singh (16 off 30) were also overtly cautious, helped them build pressure.

William Salzmann rocked Raghuvanshi’s off-stump with a beauty that straightened after pitching.

Harnoor, who has not met the high expectations he set for himself, tried to pull a rising ball on leg stump from Tobia Snell only to glove it back to the wicketkeeper, leaving India at 37 for two in the 13th over.

“The plan from me and Rasheed was to bat till the end, and it worked. It’s a proud moment (to be the third Indian captain to score a U19 WC ton),” Dhull said after the match. “The idea was to bat steadily, not to try too many shots, and to bat past the 40th over. Myself and Rasheed bat well together, we combine well and it showed.”

India, the most successful team in tournament history, were hit by COVID- 19 at the start of the competition, losing the likes of Dhull and Rasheed for two games but the depth in the squad ensured that they sailed to the knock-outs.

Dhull was not just impressive with the bat but also his captaincy. He introduced part-time offie Raghuvanshi ahead of left-arm spinners. Raghuvanshi delivered the breakthrough by trapping Miller. 

Earlier, India opted to put runs on the board after wining the toss, knowing it wasn’t the easiest of pitches to bat on.

Australia were sloppy in the field through the innings. Rasheed was dropped on 24 and missed an easy run out chance of Dhull who was batting on 74.