As the Bat Oval Stadium in Mount Maunganui is going to witness a summit clash of India vs Australia on Sunday (February 4), India Under-19 team had a prolific run so far in the youth One-day International World Cup in New Zealand by five consecutive wins on the trot to set the grand-finale date with Jason Sangha-led Australia.
Under the leadership of Prithvi Shaw, Indian colts topped the Group B after registering three wins before routing Bangladesh youth in the quarter-final clash – to meet the arch-rivals Pakistan which further saw the all-round performance embarrassing Hasan Khan-led team by 203 runs after being strangulated at 69 for 10 in 29.3 overs at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
Earlier, on January 14 in Mount Maunganui, India routed Australia youth by 100 runs in the seventh match of the Group B clash.
On the other side, Australia finished the group stage with two wins and went on to thrash England by 31 runs in Queenstown on January 23 before thrashing impressive Afghanistan U19 side by six wickets to become the first team to qualify for the final of the twelfth edition of the Youth ODI World Cup, 2018.
Shubman Gill has been outstanding with the bat. The 18-year-old Punjab-based right-handed batsman is listed third in the leading run-scorer this year with 341 runs in five matches.
However, in four innings Gill smashed 36 boundaries and two sixes to see his strike-rate of 170.50.
He scored three consecutive half-centuries before racking up unbeaten 102 in the semi-final clash against Pakistan.
For India with the ball, the left-arm orthodox bowler Anukul Roy bagged 12 wickets in five matches at an average of remarkable 7.91 which eventually included his best figures of five for 14 against Papua New Guinea (PNG) on January 16 at Bay Oval.
More fascinating would be to witness the speedsters in the form of Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi, who made the ball to do talking while clocking the bowling speed at 145kph.
Mavi has bagged eight wickets in five matches at an average of 15.50, as Nagarkoti bagged seven at an average of 15.14.
The all-round show from both the teams has been the highlight of the competition which further saw Indian dominating across departments.
Donning yellow jersey, Australian leader Sangha has scored 216 runs in five matches at an average of 43.20, however, he didn’t ball throughout the competition as he was further been known for his leg-spin bowling.
The New South Wales-based batsman Sangha has two fifties under his belt which came against Papua New Guinea and England.
Expectations:
The all-round performance from opening batsman Jack Edwards has been incredible for Australia youth which saw him claiming five wickets and scored 188 runs in four outings and he would be the key for the side.
With both teams known for delivering at the crunch time, the spectators would further find it out interesting to see how the promising youngsters would step up to the gas in the nerve-wracking encounter.
For India, the top-order batsman in the form of Shaw, Manjot Kalra apart from Gill are supposed to give a good start, as the slow bowlers are expected to come into the scene earlier to test the opposition.
However, India would definitely be banking on the momentum and they have the chance to lift the fourth overall title as both teams have won the coveted trophy in the recent past.
With plenty of options available for India and Australia it would be interesting to see how they will utilize the resources on the day and the chief coach of Team India, Rahul Dravid is wary of the situation and would be waiting eagerly to see colts registering yet another glory.
U19 Final: India Vs Australia Prediction:
Team winning the toss would want to bat first in a pressure cooker game; however, after observing the performances closely since the tournament kicked off on January 13, India is going to turn out an eventual winners on the super Sunday clash of 2018 ICC U19 World Cup final and at the same time Australia can’t be written off totally as the cricket is the game of glorious uncertainties.
India lift the first-ever Youth ODI title in 2002 when Mohammad Kaif was the skipper which further saw Virat Kohli-led India U19 in 2008 and Unmukt Chand in 2012.