
The junior Indian cricket team, led by Prithvi Shaw went on to defeat Australia in the final to win their fourth Under-19 Cricket World Cup title on February 3, 2018. India Under-19 team remained unbeaten throughout the tournament, and went on to win five consecutive matches to lift the title at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand. After Ishan Porel, Anukul Roy and Shiva Singh played a crucial role in bowling Australia out of 216 runs in 47.2 overs, Manjot Kalra came up with a match-winning hundred as India chased the target in 38.5 overs, losing two wickets.
Batting first, Australia U-19 didn’t get a great start as they lost three wickets for 59 runs in 11.4 overs. After that, Jonathan Merlo took charge of the innings and put up a partnership of 75 runs with Param Uppal for the fourth wicket. Uppal got out after scoring 34(58) runs hitting three boundaries, while Merlo top scored with 76(102) runs hitting six boundaries.
Manjot Kalra scored hundred as India clinched 2018 U-19 CricketWorld Cup title
Apart from Jonathan Merlo and Param Uppal, none of the other batters from Australia could play a big knock as Australia U-19 were bowled out for 216 runs in 47.2 overs. For India, Kamlesh Nagakoti, Ishan Porel, Anukul Roy, and Shiva Singh scalped two wickets each, while Shivam Mavi put one in his bag. After that, Manjot Kalra took charge with the bat as India wer set to chase a target in a big final.
Chasing the winning target, skipper Prithvi Shaw and Manjot Kalra added 71 runs for the first wicket. Shaw got out after scoring 29(41) runs. Apart from that, Shubman Gill (31 off 30) and Harvik Desai (47* off 61) also played crucial knocks, while Kalra remained unbeaten on 101*(102) runs, hitting eight fours and three sixes as India chased the winning target with 67 balls left to lift their record fourth U-19 Cricket World Cup title.