Former England cricketer Michael Vaughan has lauded India U19 for winning the 2022 World Cup in the West Indies. On Saturday, February 5, the Boys in Blue, led by Yash Dhull, defeated England by four wickets at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua. With the win, India finished the 50-over tournament unbeaten.
India started the final after being put in to field first. But fast bowler Ravi Kumar’s burst in his first spell blew the Brits away. At one point in time, the Brits strained at 91 for the loss of seven wickets in 24.3 overs. They were well and truly in danger of getting bowled out under 100. However, James Rew didn’t throw in the towel easily.
He played until the 44th over and scored 95 runs off 116 balls with the help of 12 fours. It eventually was Ravi Kumar, who cut short his stay in the middle. After England lost Alex Horton to Kaushal Tambe, Rew and James Sales put on 93 runs for the eighth wicket. Their partnership gave England’s score some sort of respectability.
Sales went on to stay unbeaten on 34 off 65 with the help of two fours. Raj Bawa was the pick of the Indian bowlers with five wickets for 31 runs in 9.5 overs. England were bowled out for 189 in 44.5 overs. Kumar also finished with a four-wicket haul.
India were in a spot of bother after finding themselves at 176 for six in 46.2 overs. But Dinesh Bana’s timely 13-run knock took them over the line. Vice-captain Shaikh Rasheed and Nishant Sindhu scored 50 runs apiece.
After his fifer, Bawa scored 35 with two fours and a six. Vaughan was awestruck by the quality of cricket India played on the day. Vaughan took to Twitter and wrote, “The Indian U19 team look exceptional .. ! #U19CWC.”
Michael Vaughan’s tweet
The Indian u19 team look exceptional .. !! #U19CWC
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) February 5, 2022
Vaughan also had words of praises for Bawa, who got the Player of the Match award in the final on Saturday. The veteran said that he could possibly be the fast bowling all-rounding India are searching for over the years.
Vaughan wrote, “Raj Bawa could quite possibly be that seam bowling all rounder #India have been craving for years .. #U19CWC.”
