Winning U-19 World Cup in Australia ultimate glory for India: Wasim Akram – Cricket News Update
Former Pakistan captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 Under-19 World Cup triumph, which saw them besting their hosts to lift the trophy for the third time in the tournament’s history.
“This is ultimate...to win the World Cup and that too in Australia where the wickets help the fast bowlers,” said Akram, lavishing praise on the young team. “I think they came out on top.”
Defending champions, the Australia Under-19s, were the most successful team in the history of the tournament, having lifted the trophy thrice (1988, 2002, 2010), whereas the India U-19s had only had the honour twice – in 2000 under the leadership of Mohammad
Kaif, and in 2008 with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/V-Kohli-c2737 at the helm.
However, led by Unmukt Chand, India secured their third title win this year, making them the joint most successful U-19 team.
The http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 U-19s appeared to have adapted well to conditions in Australia, after emerging victorious from a Quadrangular Under-19 Series played Down Under in April this year. Their 2012 World Cup campaign also got off to a promising start during the warm-up
matches, as they defeated both the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Afghanistan-c745 Under-19s.
However, the first match of the tournament was far from successful, as Chand’s team conceded a 4-wicket defeat to the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 U-19s. Despite the loss, they managed to bounce back and win the remainder of their World Cup matches – notable among them a
1-wicket quarter-final victory over the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754.
The India U-19s then went on to seal the tournament with a 6-wicket win (with 14 balls remaining) over the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ireland-c751 Stadium in Townsville.
Having won the toss and chosen to field first, medium-pacer http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sandeep-Sharma-c88505 claimed 4 for 54 to restrict their opponents to a final total of 225, before skipper Chand guided the team home. Tackling Australia’s bevy of fast bowlers with ease, he scored a match-winning,
unbeaten 111, in addition to setting up a 130*–run partnership with Smit http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Huzefa-Mohammed-Patel-c63657 (62*), which got their team safely over the finish line.
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