Skipper Yash Dhull leads India to fourth consecutive U-19 World Cup final
Osbourn(PTI): Skipper Yash Dhull gave a glimpse of his rare talent with a well-paced hundred as powerhouse India reached their fourth consecutive U-19 World Cup final with an emphatic 96-run win over Australia here on Wednesday.
Dhull struck a sublime 110 in as many balls and shared a game- changing 204-run stand with his deputy Shaik Rasheed (94 off 108 balls) to fire India to a formidable 290 for five after opting to bat.
Indian bowlers then performed their roles to perfection to bowl Australia out for 194 in 41.5 overs. Lachlan Shaw's fine 51 came too late in the day for Australia.
Pacers Rajvardhan Hangargekar (0/26) and Ravi Kumar (2/37) were impressive in the first powerplay before spinners Nishant Sindhu (2/25), Vicky Ostwal (3/42) and Kaushal Tambe (1/32) dominated the opposition in the middle overs.
The professional bowling performance came after a remarkably mature knocks from Dhulll and Rasheed who was unfortunate to miss out on a hundred.
Record four-time champions India face England in the final on Saturday and will be aiming to extend their dominance in the competition.
Dhull became the third Indian captain to hit a hundred in the tournament history after the illustrious Virat Kohli (2008) and the prodigious Unmukt Chand (2012), who also hail from Delhi.
India, the most successful team in tournament history, were hit by COVID-19 at the start of the competition, losing the likes of Dhull and Rasheed for two games but the depth in the squad ensured that they sailed to the knock-outs.
Chasing a record target, Australia lost their in-form opener Teague Wyllie cheaply with Ravi Kumar trapping him in front off his first legitimate ball with a late inswinger into the right-hander.
Campbell Kellaway (30) and Corey Miller (38) forged a fluent 68-run stand before perishing in a space of six balls, leaving Australia at 73 for three.
Left-arm spinner Ostwal took a return catch for his second wicket to make it 119 for six in 30 overs, shutting the door on the opposition.
Dhull was not just impressive with the bat but also his captaincy. He introduced part-time offie Raghuvanshi ahead of left-arm spinners. Raghuvanshi delivered the breakthrough by trapping Miller.
Earlier, India opted to put runs on the board after wining the toss, knowing it wasn't the easiest of pitches to bat on.
Australian pacers bowled well in the opening powerplay and the fact that Indian openers Angkrish Raghuvanshi (6 off 30) and Harnoor Singh (16 off 30) were also overtly cautious, helped them build pressure.
William Salzmann rocked Raghuvanshi's off-stump with a beauty that straightened after pitching.
Harnoor, who has not met the high expectations he set for himself, tried to pull a rising ball on leg stump from Tobia Snell only to glove it back to the wicketkeeper, leaving India at 37 for two in the 13th over.
India's two best batters, Dhull and Rasheed, then got together to lift the team out of a spot of bother.
Playing only their third game of the tournament after missing two due to COVID-19, Rasheed and Dhull showed maturity beyond their age to build the innings.
Dhull got a lot of runs square and behind the square with deft late-cuts off spinners being one of his pet shots. Rasheed, whose first boundary was an aerial straight drive, ended up with eight fours and a six.
The straight six he hit late in his innings off Jack Nisbet took him into the 90s. His punch shot through the cover off Salzmann was the most attractive shot he played.
The highly rated Dhull played another sublime knock. The pitch was on the slower side but he rotated the strike at ease before accelerating to pick boundaries at will, collecting 10 fours and a six in total.
He got to three figures with a two in the 45th over and next ball was a pull shot off Tom Whitney for the second six of the innings.
After Dhull's departure, Rasheed could not get to a deserving hundred after being caught at backward point off Nisbet.
Australia were sloppy in the field through the innings. Rasheed was dropped on 24 and missed an easy run out chance of Dhull who was batting on 74.
With two set batters gone in quick succession, the flow of the innings was slightly disrupted before Nishant Sindhu (12 not out off 10), Dinesh Bana (20 not out off 4 balls) and Rajvardhan Hangagekar (13 off 10) came up with the big shots in the death overs.
Australia leaked as many as 108 runs in the last 10 overs with the 50th over bowled by Tom Whitney going for 27.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
