India Outclass Australia To Claim Record 4th Under-19 World Cup Title
Tauranga (New Zealand): Promising opener Manjot Kalra played a starring role with an unbeaten century as India overpowered Australia by eight wickets in the final to claim the ICC U19 World Cup for a record fourth time here on Saturday.
The opener batted through the innings and remained unbeaten on 101 runs off 102 deliveries as the Indians romped past the modest target of 217 runs with 67 balls to spare.
Harvik Desai played an excellent supporting role at the other end and was not out on 47 runs off 61 balls.
Desai brought up the title win in style, smashing a boundary off Australian pacer Will Sutherland through the off-side.
Kalra was adjudged the man of the match while compatriot Shubman Gill took home the player of the tournament award.
"Great feeling. Enjoyed a lot. Conditions were very good. It was a flat wicket to bat on. In the team, it's been a great environment," an overjoyed Kalra told the media after the final.
India thus became the first nation to win the ICC U19 World Cup four times. They had earlier won the title in 2000, 2008 and 2012.
Australia are second on the list with three titles.
This is the second time that India have defeated Australia in the final. They had earlier defeated the boys from Down Under in the final of the 2012 edition.
Chasing a modest target, India got their chase off to a flying start with Manjot and skipper Prithvi Shaw piling up 71 runs for the opening stand.
India's chase was briefly halted by rain after just four overs, but Manjot and Prithvi ensured that they maintained their focus and after coming back they batted out the initial few overs before cutting loose.
But just when the Indian pair threatened to take the match away, pacer Will Sutherland drew first blood for the Australians by rattling Shaw's off-stump.
The Indian skipper scored 29 runs off 41 deliveries with four hits to the fence.
Shaw's dismissal brought in the centurion of the semi-final against Pakistan, Man-of-the-Tournament Shubman Gill, who raised 60 runs for the second wicket with Manjot before perishing to off-spinner Param Uppal on the personal score of 31.
This was unfortunately Gill's first below-50 score in the tournament but wicketkeeper-batsman Harvik Desai ensured that there were no more hiccups in India's road to the title.
With India just five runs shy of the title, Manjot got to his personal landmark, punching one down to square leg for a single even as the celebrations began on the sidelines with the Rahul Dravid-led side romping home in 38.5 overs.
Earlier, electing to bat after winning the toss, Australia rode on Jonathan Merlo's steady 102-ball 76 -- laced with six boundaries -- to set up a modest 216-run total.
Australia lost their three top batsmen with just 59 runs on the board, thanks to pacer Ishan Porel's twin strikes early on.
Porel's victims included the openers Max Bryant (14) and Jack Edwards (28) before fellow fast bowler Kamlesh Nagarkoti joined the party by removing Australian skipper Jason Sangha for an unlucky 13 off 24 balls.
Thereafter, Merlo and Param Uppal (34) steadied the innings with a 75-run fourth wicket stand which saw them going past the 100-run mark.
Left-arm spinner Anukul Roy ended Uppal's 58-ball stay with a brilliant catch in his own follow through.
With Australia tottering at 134/4, Merlo was joined by Nathan McSweeney (23).
The pair added 49 runs for the fifth wicket before McSweeney met the same fate as Uppal, this time caught and bowled by the other Indian spinner Shiva Singh.
Despite losing his partners at the other end, Merlo continued to torment the Indians, raising his maiden half century off 60 balls by chopping a slower delivery from Porel for a single to sweeper cover.
Merlo, however, succumbed under the pressure of scoring quick runs, when he attempted a reverse sweep off Roy only to manage a top-edge for Shiva to grab at sweeper cover, even as Australia's hopes were dashed after losing the last five wickets for just 33 runs.
For the boys-in-blue, Ishan Porel, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shiva Singh and Anukul Roy took two wickets each while Shivam Mavi grabbed one.
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Using power to create Hindu-Muslim rift not in state or country's interest: Rahul on Sambhal clashes
New Delhi, Nov 25: A day after violence rocked Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the BJP's use of power to create a rift between Hindus and Muslims was neither in the interest of the state nor the country.
He also urged the Supreme Court to intervene in the matter as soon as possible.
Three people were killed and scores of others, including security and administration personnel, injured on Sunday as protesters opposing a court-ordered survey of a Mughal-era mosque in Sambhal clashed with police. A fourth injured person died on Monday.
In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said, "The biased and hasty attitude of the state government on the recent dispute in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, is extremely unfortunate. I express my deepest condolences to those who have lost their loved ones in the violence and firing."
The administration, without listening to all the parties, insensitively took action that vitiated the atmosphere further and led to the deaths of people -- for which the BJP government is directly responsible, he charged.
"The BJP's use of power to create a rift and discrimination between Hindu-Muslim communities is neither in the interest of the state nor the country. I request the Supreme Court to intervene in the matter as soon as possible and do justice," Gandhi said.
The former Congress chief also appealed for peace and mutual harmony.
"We all have to join together to ensure that India moves forward on the path of unity and constitution, not communalism and hatred," Gandhi asserted.
The district administration has already imposed prohibitory orders and barred the entry of outsiders till November 30 following Sunday's clashes.
Internet services were soon suspended in Sambhal tehsil for 24 hours and the district administration declared a holiday in all schools for Monday.
Violence broke out in the district as protesters opposing the survey of the Jama Masjid clashed with security personnel. The protesters torched vehicles and pelted the police with stones while the security personnel used tear gas and batons to disperse the mob.
Tension had been brewing in Sambhal since November 19 when the Jama Masjid was first surveyed on the court's orders following a petition claiming that a Harihar temple had stood at the site.
On Sunday, trouble started early when a large group of people gathered near the mosque and started shouting slogans as the survey team began its work.
District officials said the survey could not be completed on Tuesday and was planned for Sunday to avoid interference with afternoon prayers.
Deputy Inspector General of Police (Moradabad) Muniraj told reporters on Monday that Naeem, Bilal and Nauman -- the three men who died in Sunday's violence -- had been buried. All three were aged about 25.
He later confirmed the death of a fourth person.
Divisional Commissioner (Moradabad) Aunjaneya Kumar Singh said on Sunday, "Shots were fired by miscreants... the PRO of the superintendent of police suffered a gunshot to the leg, the circle officer was hit by pellets and 15 to 20 security personnel were injured in the violence."
A constable also suffered a serious head injury while the deputy collector fractured his leg, he had said.
The Congress on Sunday alleged that the Adityanath administration was squarely responsible for killing innocents and only the BJP-RSS was guilty of "setting fire" to peace and harmony in Sambhal.
The opposition party had said the videos of direct firing on the protesters depicted the horrifying result of a "well-planned conspiracy" by Adityanath and the BJP-RSS.
संभल, उत्तर प्रदेश में हालिया विवाद पर राज्य सरकार का पक्षपात और जल्दबाज़ी भरा रवैया बेहद दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण है। हिंसा और फायरिंग में जिन्होंने अपनों को खोया है उनके प्रति मेरी गहरी संवेदनाएं हैं।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) November 25, 2024
प्रशासन द्वारा बिना सभी पक्षों को सुने और असंवेदनशीलता से की गई कार्रवाई ने माहौल और…
