New Delhi: West Indies on Sunday completed a tense run chase with just 3 balls to spare to win their maiden U-19 World Cup. Keemo Paul (40*) and Keacy Carty (52*) put together a 69-run partnership after Mayank Dagar's three-wicket spell rocked the Windies innings.
Here is how it all unfolded in Dhaka.
West Indies innings
OVER 49.3 | SCORE 146/5 (Carty 52*, Paul 40*)
That's it. West Indies have stunned India to win their maiden U-19 World Cup.
OVER 46 | SCORE 128/5 (Carty 49*, Paul 35*)
WI need 9 off 12 balls. What a tense final!
OVER 46 | SCORE 128/5 (Carty 46*, Paul 30*)
The duo brought up their 50-run partnership in this over. They have taken the game away from the Indians. Such a mature effort from these young guns on this grand stage.
OVER 41 | SCORE 109/5 (Carty 35*, Paul 22*)
Dagar completes his quota of overs. The left-arm spinner's figures read: 10-1-25-3
OVER 37 | SCORE 102/5 (Carty 35*, Paul 15*)
Carty holds the key for the Windies here. Ishan Kishan needs his wicket in the next couple of overs.
OVER 36 | SCORE 98/5
Dagar's spell has changed the complexion of this final. The current partnership is 22 runs.
J Goolie c & b Dagar 3 (9b)
S Springer c Armaan Jaffer b Dagar 3 (9b)
OVER 23 | SCORE 67/3 (Carty 22*)
Dagar gives India a much-needed breakthrough, as he ends the third-wicket partnership.
S Hetmyer c Armaan Jaffer b Dagar 23 (53b)
OVER 21 | SCORE 62/2 (Carty 20*, Hetmyer 20*)
Extremely sensible batting from the West Indian duo now. They have given absolutely no chances to the Indian bowlers.
OVER 17 | SCORE 50/2 (Carty 12*, Hetmyer 16*)
Hetmyer and Carty have put on 22 runs for the third wicket. West Indies require another 96 runs.
OVER 13 | SCORE 33/2 (Carty 1*, Hetmyer 12*)
Washington Sundar and Rahul Batham have maintained the pressure on the West Indian batsmen.
OVER 8 | SCORE 28/2 (Carty 0*, Hetmyer 8*)
Imlach pops Ahmed's ball to short cover. India fighting hard.
T Imlach c Lomror b Ahmed 15 (20b)
Game@on in the #U19CWC Who's your money on? 140's shouldn't be enough but India has runs on the board. @StarSportsIndia @BCCI @westindies
— Matthew Hayden AM (@HaydosTweets) February 14, 2016
OVER 3 | SCORE 5/1 (Hetmyer 0*, Imlach 1*)
Avesh dismissed Pope, as the left-hander edge the ball to third man.
G Pope c Ahmed b Avesh Khan 3 (13b)
OVER 1 | SCORE 2/0 (Pope 2*, Imlach 0*)
Avesh Khan opened India's attack. Ishan Kishan will rely heavily on the Madhya Pradesh pacer to defend this paltry total.
The bowlers have done their job. Now it's up to the batsmen to complete this modest chase. What a moment that will be for West Indies cricket. Can they pull off a famous win? Join us for the run chase on the other side.
Innings break report
The Indian batsmen faltered when it mattered most as the three-time champions were bowled out for 145 by the West Indies in the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup final.
The same batsmen, who helped India stay unbeaten earlier in the competition, failed to apply themselves in the big game after they were put in to bat by the West Indies on a green top and were sent packing in 45.1 overs.
Sarfaraz Khan (51 off 89) was the lone exception as he saved India the embarrassment of being bowled out for a sub- 100 total with a fifth fifty plus score in six innings, also making him only one to score most half centuries (7) in the history of the tournament.
While the Indian batting flattered to deceive, the West Indies bowlers did well to exploit the conditions. Alzarri Joseph (3/39) ran through top order before Ryan John (3/38) landed crucial blows for his team.
Chemar Holder kept things tight to maintain pressure on the Indian batsmen, conceding only 20 runs in 10 overs with a timely wicket of Mahipal Lomror.
India, aiming for an unprecedented fourth title, lost their top three for 27 runs, all falling to Joseph. Rishabh Pant was stumped in an unusual manner with West Indian keeper Tevin Imlach showing presence of mind to fox the Indian opener, who was standing out of his crease while leaving an away going delivery.
Anmolpreet Singh, who scored a gritty fifty in the semifinals, edged a sharp one to the wicket-keeper. And soon after, captain Ishan Kishan was gone too, ending his disappointing run in the tournament where he ended with a solitary fifty in six innings. However, he was out leg before wicket to a ball that appeared to pitch outside the leg-stump.
The fall of Armaan Jaffer made it 50 for five and after that began the innings repair exercise by Sarfaraz and Lomror (19 off 43), who added 37 runs for the sixth wicket.
India badly needed another decent partnership to put up a respectable total but that did not happen as Sarfaraz kept running out of partners until he missed a crossed batted shot to be caught plumb in front, leaving his team at 120 for eight.
His 89-ball effort comprised five fours and a six.
The tail did not contributed much but it was not expected to after an ordinary batting effort earlier in the innings.
India U-19 innings
OVER 45.1 | SCORE 145
That's it. Paul wraps up India's innings, as Bathan edges one to the keeper.
RR Batham c Imlach b Paul 21 (31b)
OVER 40 | SCORE 123/9
Paul's ball is popped to midwicket by Avesh. John completed the simple catch. Khaleel Ahmed is the last man in for India.
Avesh Khan c John b Paul 1 (7b)
OVER 39 | SCORE 122/8 (Avesh Khan 1*, Rahul Batham 3*)
That's the wicket they wanted. John traps Sarfaraz LBW.
S Khan lbw b John 51 (89b)
OVER 37 | SCORE 117/7 (Sarfaraz Khan 50*, Rahul Batham 1*)
India lose their 7th wicket, as Dagar is caught at point. Rahul Batham is the ne man in.
M Dagar c Carty b John 8 (20b)
OVER 36 | SCORE 116/6 (Sarfaraz Khan 50*, Mayank Dagar 8*)
Sarfaraz Khan registers yet another fifty. Surely his best considering the carnage around him. He needs to bat right through now.
OVER 30 | SCORE 87/6 (Sarfaraz Khan 29*, Mayank Dagar 0*)
Holder removes Lomror. The left-hander nicked the ball in to the safe hands of Imlach. Windies strike just when the Indians were just gaining control of this final.
Mayank Dagar is the new man in.
M Lomror c Imlach b Holder 19 (43b)
OVER 29 | SCORE 87/5 (Sarfaraz Khan 29*, Mahipal Lomror 19*)
The current partnership is 37 runs. Sarfaraz has shown that he is a cut above the rest. This stand is crucial for India.
OVER 21 | SCORE 63/5 (Sarfaraz Khan 19*, Mahipal Lomror 7*)
These two have put on 9 runs for the sixth wicket. Sarfaraz continues to bat sensibly. What a star he has been for Rahul Dravid's side.
OVER 18 | SCORE 51/5 (Sarfaraz Khan 14*, Mahipal Lomror 1*)
Five down. Sarfaraz is running out of partners here. Mahipal Lomror is the new man in.
Armaan Jaffer c Paul b Springer 5 (7b)
OVER 15 | SCORE 45/4 (Armaan Jaffer 4*, Sarfaraz Khan 12*)
Sundar's 56-minute stay at the crease came to an end. You just can't keep Joseph out of this final. Three wickets and a catch for the pacer. Jaffer is the new man in for India.
Washington Sundar c Joseph b John 7 (41b)
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OVER 14 | SCORE 41/3 (Washington Sundar 7*, Sarfaraz Khan 12*)
The decision to promote Sundar appears to have worked. The technically sound left-hander has handled the Windies attack with great determination on a difficult wicket.
OVER 10 | SCORE 34/3 (Washington Sundar 6*, Sarfaraz Khan 6*)
These two have put on 19 runs for the fourth wicket. Sarfaraz has looked solid. He continues to be the key man for India.
OVER 7 | SCORE 27/3 (Washington Sundar 6*, Sarfaraz Khan 0*)
Alzarri Joseph bags his third wicket of the final, trapping Ishan lbw. What a match the pacer has had so far.
Ishan Kishan lbw b Joseph 4 (10b)
OVER 3 | SCORE 12/2 (Ishan Kishan 1*, Washington Sundar 4*)
India lose their second wicket, as Anmolpreet edges the ball to the keeper. He was the team's highest scorer in the semi-final against Sri Lanka. Interestingly, Sundar and not Sarfaraz is the new man in.
Anmolpreet Singh c Imlach b Joseph 3 (8b)
OVER 1 | SCORE 4/1 (Anmolpreet Singh 0*, Ishan Kishan 1*)
In-form opener was dismissed by a smart stumping from the Windies keeper. Huge blow for the India.s
RR Pant st Imlach b Joseph 1 (3b)
Toss and team news
West Indies won the toss and elected to field.
India XI: Anmolpreet Singh, SN Khan, Armaan Jaffer, Washington Sundar, MK Lomror, MJ Dagar, RR Batham,Avesh Khan, KK Ahmed
West Indies XI: GD Pope, TA Imlach, SO Hetmyer, KU Carty, SK Springer, JU Goolie, KMA Paul, MO Frew, RD John, AS Joseph,CK Holder
Match preview
A seemingly invincible India are primed to win an unprecedented fourth ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup when they take on a wily West Indies in the final.
India breezed into their fifth final under the precious guidance of coach Rahul Dravid, steamrolling their opponents in the three league games as well as in the knock-outs.
If they win today, India will surpass Australia for the most number of titles in the U-19 showpiece event introduced way back in 1988. The sub-continent team last lifted the trophy in 2012 after winning it in 2008 and 2000.
The Indians seem unstoppable but they can't afford to take it easy against the West Indians, who have upped their game as the tournament progressed. The boys from Caribbean finished second in their group before earning plaudits with a spirited showing against Pakistan and Bangladesh in the quarters and semifinals respectively.
India will once again bank on their dangerous opening duo of Rishabh Pant and captain Ishan Kishan to give them a flying start.
Kishan, who has only one fifty to his name in five innings, would love to be amongst the runs in the big final.
Another IPL recruit, Pant, too, would be itching to rise to the occasion after getting out cheaply against Sri Lanka in the semifinals.
Anmolpreet Singh would be high on confidence after making a crucial 72 against Sri Lanka and so would be power hitter Sarfaraz Khan, who is India's leading run-getter in the competition with 304 runs at an average of 76, including four fifties in five games.
Pacer Avesh Khan, with 11 scalps, has taken the most number of wickets for the team while left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar, too, has impressed with eight wickets from four matches at an average of 12.
The West Indies know they have their task cut out ahead of their second tournament final, having finished runners-up to Pakistan in 2004.
The Indian bowlers will have to find a way to stop Shamar Springer, who has been the most impressive West Indies batsman with 282 runs at 70.50. The all-rounder came up with handy knocks of 37 and 62 not out to take his team home in the knock-outs. Their standout bowler has been pacer Alzarri Joseph, who has taken 10 wickets at an average of 14.
