With a stunning 175 to light up the big stage, batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi led India to a record-extending sixth ICC Under-19 World Cup triumph on Friday, defeating England by 100 runs in Harare.
The victory highlights India’s supremacy in the tournament’s history and adds to their prior victories in 2000, 2008, 2012, 2018, and 2022.
After choosing to bat, India amassed a formidable 411 for 9, and 14-year-old Sooryavanshi scorched his way to a spectacular 175 off just 80 balls, setting a new record for the fastest 150 in Under-19 cricket history. He reached the milestone in 71 deliveries.
Caleb Falconer smashed a 67-ball 115 but England were bowled out for 311 in 40.2 overs.
RS Ambrish took 3 wickets for India as Deepesh Devendran and Kanishk Chouhan took 2 wickets each.
England last won the U19 World Cup in 1998. It’s interesting to note that the two sides had previously faced off in the 2022 edition’s finals, which took place in the West Indies, with India, captained by Yash Dhull, winning by four wickets.
Earlier, in what may have been the most dominant effort in the tournament’s history, batting prodigy Sooryavanshi smashed a 80-ball 175, studded with an incredible 15 sixes, to power India to a record 411/9.
The 14-year-old became the second fastest centurion in these tournaments with a knock that will go down in history, racing to the three-figure mark in just 55 balls. This is the highest team total in the tournament’s summit clash and the record for the best individual score in an U19 World Cup final.
The opener continued to smash the English bowlers with his vast range of strokes after exploding when it mattered most, hitting his fifty in just 32 balls. He only needed 23 balls to reach his second fifty.
During a knock in which he practically played with the opposition attack and transformed the Harare Sports Club into his playground, he hit 15 sixes and as many fours as he reached 150 off his 175 runs off boundaries.
After topping his own 14 maximums against the UAE at ICCA Dubai in December, he now owns the record for the most sixes in a Youth ODI innings.
Ben Mayes of England took 98 balls against Scotland at the same venue earlier in the campaign, but Sooryavanshi now has the fastest 150 (from 71 balls) in U-19 cricket. Vedant Trivedi witnessed Sooryavanshi celebrate his 100 and 150 while facing just four balls between the two benchmarks to put things in perspective.
At that point in the game, India’s run rate was at 10 and the predicted total was 500 due to Sooryavanshi’s relentless attack. The boy from Samastipur, Bihar, was dismissed in the 26th over while attempting to scoop Manny Lumsden, but wicketkeeper Thomas Rew was able to complete a catch down the leg side off a short of a length ball from around the wicket after he had left the cricket world in awe in less than two hours.
The England players were relieved and rushed to Sooryavanshi to offer their congratulations for an innings that is rarely seen in a World Cup final. Together with his captain Ayush Mhatre, who left after a 51-ball 53 right after reaching his half-century, Sooryavanshi amassed 142 runs in just 19 overs.
Dewald Brevis of South Africa, whose record of 18 sixes had stood since 2022, was surpassed by Sooryavanshi, who amassed an incredible 22 sixes in this event alone by regularly clearing the ropes.
In addition, Sooryavanshi is now the tournament’s youngest centurion. All of the English bowlers were severely punished by him, but left-arm spinner Ralphie Albert and off-spinner Farhad Ahmed took the worst of it, being clobbered for 27 and 22 runs, respectively.
Abhigyan Kundu (40 off 31 balls), Vedant Trivendi (32 off 36), Vihaan Malhotra (30 off 36), and Kanishk Chouhan (37 off 20) all made valuable contributions after Sooryavanshi was dismissed. Although England was able to regain some ground, they were not permitted to control the game.
