India U19 vs Australia U19, Final - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

A lot of trends from the 90’s seem to be coming back in fashion. One unexpected entrant to that list seems to be a renewed multi-format domination of Australia in the world of cricket. People often ask what after Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood? But Mahli Beardman, Callum Vidler and Tom Straker with their performances in this tournament have given a fitting reply to that! And so have their batters, as they continue to churn out clutch players at will. Do they find them inside the pouches of kangaroos? If this is the future of Australian cricket, be very afraid, world!! And on that note, time to wrap up our coverage of the U19 World Cup. It was a lot of fun bringing this tournament too you, this is Saurabh Shankar, signing off on behalf of Raju Peethala, Sagar Chawla and AV Venkatesh.

Spare a thought for these Indian youngsters. They carried the weight of expectations off a billion people right from the moment they boarded that flight towards South Africa, and they exceeded those expectations for the majority of the tournament. India were dominant throughout the league phase, and in Uday Saharan, Musheer Khan, Sachin Dhas and co. surely have some quality batters for the future. However, the burden of a big final proved to be too much for these young shoulders, as they crumbled against a quality side with clear plans in place to outbeat and out tactic the Indians.

Leading run-scorer of the tournament - Uday Saharan (India) - 397 runs

Leading wicket-taker of the tournament - Kwena Maphaka (South Africa) - 21 wickets

Highest score of the tournament - Snehith Reddy (New Zealand) - 147* against Nepal

Best bowling figures of the tournament - Taz Ali (England) - 7/29 against Zimbabwe

And now the rest of the players rush onto the podium to join the skipper Hugh Weibgen with the trophy lift. They seem a bit too eager to lift that shiny piece of metal aloft as the fireworks go off in the background. A combination of Weibgen and Harry Dixon hold on to the trophy as the rest of the players yelp in excitement and happiness. And now they line up for a photo next to a podium that spells out the word 'CHAMPION.'

Hugh Weibgen | Australia Captain: So proud of the boys and our coaches. Everyone was open to batting first, our plan was get a few runs and back ourselves. (On Harjas Singh) He is a quality player, class is permanent. Full credit to the coaches for sticking with him. India are a class side, they dominated the whole tournament, just came the wrong side. I'm sure these guys will do a lot of great things in their career. (On the pacers )They can go so far, as a unit they know their roles so well. I'll be surprised if the four of them don't go a long way in their careers.

Uday Saharan | Indian Captain: I'm proud of the boys, they played really well. Showed good fighting spirit throughout the tournament. We played a few rash shots today, didn't spend time in the middle. We were prepared but couldn't execute the plans. Lots of learnings from this tournament, learnt a lot from the support staff and even during the games. We will try to keep learning and getting better.

Kwena Maphaka | Player of the Tournament: Means a lot to me. I will remember about this for the rest of the tournament. I worked on my inswing a lot, that's what helped me in this tournament. Super eager for the future, will be amazing if I can make it happen (play for South Africa). Lot of hard work to do.

Mahli Beardman | Player of the Match: Pretty surreal, hasn't sunk it yet. It is something that we have been working for a long time, happy it paid off. (On Indian team) They have been incredible, we knew it would be a good battle. I backed my short balls and tried to smash it into the wicket. (On Dennis Lillee's coaching) Through him, I've learnt a lot of mental stuff. Thinking about my bowling, thinking about field settings. He's been incredible, always a pleasure to bowl alongside him. Future goals will be probably the Big Bash, and go back home and try to play some cricket for my state.

Time for the presentations now...

Anderson: It's awesome, what a feeling! You don't get to play in the World Cup final everyday, so it is awesome. Who plans for these sorts of things (talking about the plans for celebration), we will see where the night takes us I guess.

Vidler: A memory I'll definitely remember for the rest of my life. Once in a life time opportunity. Doesn't matter, we've won the World Cup (who's the quickest bowler in Aussie lineup?).

Beardman: The amount of work we’ve put in over a year or so, it feels surreal. We have to take time to realize what we have done, and standing here feels like a dream come true. We are really strong as mates, the team bonding out here is great.

Straker: Great feeling. We've worked for a year for this. We've been in Brisbane, been to England, all for this moment, and it's finally come. We're all good mates (fast bowlers). We all want to play with each other. Love the four quicks playing. I won't be leading the celebrations but I'll be joining in.

Konstas: Lost for words. Been an amazing journey. India were so good, they are the benchmark. To get the win, I'm so proud of the boys. Was a great team effort. Credit to our coaches. They've been amazing. We just stuck to our plans and processes.

A note on the Australian celebrations: As soon as the umpire raised his fingers, the players from the dugout bolted towards the pitch. Skipper Hugh Weibgen did his best impression of Michael Vaughan, circa 2005 after winning the Ashes - arms aloft and head looking skywards, letting out a jubilant cry. The players surround the skipper as they huddle up for a moment that’ll be etched in their memories forever. The players now walk towards the stands where their family and traveling supporters greet them with open embraces. It seems like Harjas Singh has his family in the stands, what a day to remember for the Singh household!! What a day for Australian cricket. Just over a month into the year and they've already clinched a multi-nation trophy.

Clinical! That’s a TLDR description for Australia’s bowling performance today. Callum Vidler was metronomical in the powerplay, bowling two maidens in his first three overs. He gave nothing away and the pressure was already on the Indians by the time Mahli Beardman came in to bowl. Beardman, with his nagging stump lines and skiddy pace managed to coax the Indian batters into making mistakes. And then came the off spin of Raf MacMillan, as he went for the jugular with the wickets of Sachin Dhas and Aravelly. Two cricketing cliches reaffirmed once again in this final. Runs on the board in a big final and batters win you matches, bowlers win you tournaments! Heartbreak for India yet again in a big final, jubilation for Australia.

Once again, it was a left-handed top-order batter with a naturally attacking instinct that proved to be the bane for Indian bowlers. Harjas Singh top scored for Australia with 55 runs, while skipper Weibgen, Dixon and Oliver Peake made telling contributions to allow their team to finish at 253/7. That proved to be too much for the Indian batters on a pitch that offered pace, bowl and plenty of lateral movement. They were tepid in the powerplay, as Arshin Kulkarni and Musheer Khan fell early. Uday Saharan made a good start but his square drive went straight to backward point. The hero of the semi-final Sachin Dhas was out caught behind and that dwindled any chance of an Indian victory. Adarsh Singh took his time in the powerplay, and although he did score a valuable 47, he chewed up too many balls. The Indian batting, which has been their calling card for most of this tournament, unfortunately failed to show their hand in this all important final.