The Indian under-19 squad on Friday lifted the Asia Cup after a dominant performance against the Sri Lankans to lift their eighth Asia Cup title in nine years, a record in itself. Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Vicky Ostwal and Kaushal Tambe set up a massive win with excellent performances.
Heavy rains in Dubai meant that the game between the two South Asian heavyweights was cut short to a 38-over affair, with four bowlers being allowed to bowl eight overs. The Sri Lankan U-19s won the toss and decided to bat first. However, they did not get the start that they would have wanted, as left-arm pacer Ravi Kumar got rid of opener Chamindu Wickramasinghe in the fourth over of the game.
Runs came few and far between for the Sri Lankan batsmen, who were tottering at 15/1 at the end of 10 overs. Post the tenth over, the Indian spinners Vicky Ostwal and Kaushal Tambe sprung into action, picking up a series of wickets to leave the Sri Lankans battered at 57/7.
The Sri Lankans were then in the middle of their most productive partnership in the game when the rain gods smiled again, causing further delay in the proceedings. Upon commencement of action, that meagre stand of 25 was broken courtesy of a run-out by Shaik Rashid. At the end of the stipulated 38 overs, the Sri Lankans managed to cross the 100-run mark and finished on 106/9.
After the application of the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method, the Indians were set a target of 102 in 32 overs. Things went smoothly for the Indians, after losing opener Harnoor Singh in the fifth over.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Shaik Rashid added 96 for the second wicket, as India posted a huge win by nine wickets, with 69 balls to spare. This was also India’s eighth win in the last nine editions of the U-19 Asia Cup, as the Men in Blue furthered their domination.
Rasheed and Harnoor Singh ended the competition atop the run-scorers’ charts, with 133 and 131 runs, respectively. In a near-perfect tournament, India’s solitary loss came against arch-rivals Pakistan.
Brief scores
Sri Lanka U-19- 106/9 in 38 overs (Rodrigo-19*; Ostwal-3/11; Tambe-2/23)
India U-19-(Target-102 in 32 overs)- 104/1 in 21.3 overs (Raghuvanshi-56*; Rashid-34*; Rodrigo-1/12)
India U-19 beat Sri Lanka U-19 by nine wickets and win the U-19 Asia Cup 2021/22.
