Benoni [South Africa] : Pacer Raj Limbani’s three-wicket haul helped India to hold Australia at 253/7 in the final match of the U19 World Cup at Willowmoore Park in Benoni on Sunday.
After winning the toss Hugh Weibgen’s Australia decided to bat first and gave a target of 253/7 runs in the final match.
Harry Dixon (42 runs from 56 balls) and Sam Konstas (0 runs from 8 balls) opened for the Aussies. Even though Konstas failed to make a mark, however, Dixon’s knock helped the Kangaroos to get a good start.
Limbani made the first breakthrough of the game after he dismissed Konstas in the 3rd over.
After the dismissal of Konstas, Weibgen (48 runs from 66 balls) took control of the game and made a crucial partnership with Dixon.
Naman Tiwari picked up the Aussie skipper’s wicket in the 21st over.
Harjas Singh (55 runs from 64 balls) made a crucial half-century and took Australia to a better position in the game.
Naman dismissed Dixon in the 23rd over.
Ryan Hicks (20 runs from 25 balls) played an average knock but made an important partnership with Harjas.
Saumy Pandey bagged a crucial wicket and removed the dangerous Harjas from the crease in the 38th over.
Musheer Khan and Limbani dismissed Raf MacMillan (2 runs from 8 balls) and Charlie Anderson (13 runs from 18 balls) respectively.
Oliver Peake’s (46* runs from 43 balls) unbeaten knock helped the Young Australian to put 253/7 on the target. Peake smashed a four in the last ball of the first inning and powered Australia to cross the 250-run mark.
Tom Straker (8* runs from 13 balls) also stayed on the crease till the last ball and paired up with Peake.
On the other hand, Limbani bagged 3 wickets in his 10-over spell and gave away 38 runs. Naman picked up 2 wickets in his 9-over spell. Meanwhile, Saumy and Musheer took one wicket each.
Uday Saharan-led India need to make 254 runs in the second inning to win the U19 World Cup for the second consecutive time.
Brief score: Australia 253/7 (Harjas Singh 55, Hugh Weibgen 48, Oliver Peake 46*; Raj Limbani 3/38) vs India.
