India and England lock horns in the final of the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup on Saturday.
Five-time champion India has had an excellent run to the final despite a number of its players being infected by the novel coronavirus during the league stage. Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Raj Bawa, and Yash Dhull have been the chief run-getters in the tournament, all scoring more than 200 runs. Captain Dhull scored a ton in the semifinal against Australia and will be hoping to score another in the final. Spinner Vicky Ostwal has been the highest wicket-taker for the team so far, with 12 wickets, but fast bowlers Rajvardhan Hangargekar and Ravi Kumar have been effective as well.
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PREVIEW - U-19 CWC final: India braces up for England in final hurdle
England will be bidding to win its first U-19 World Cup title since 1998. Fast bowler Joshua Boyden and spinner Rehan Ahmed have been the chief wicket-takers, with 25 wickets between them. With the bat, Tom Prest has been prolific, scoring 292 runs, including a century and a half-century, at a strike rate of more than 100.
Here are five players to watch out for in the final:
1. Yash Dhull : The India captain has played only three matches in the U-19 World Cup so far as he was down with COVID-19 for a few days. He came into the tournament on the back of a couple of half-centuries in the warm-up matches, and he continued to shine through. His 82 against South Africa helped India win by 45 runs in the first match. He played his second match after a 14-day break, scoring an unbeaten 20 against Bangladesh in Coolidge.
He reserved his best performance for the semifinal against Australia, scoring a run-a-ball 110 to hand India a comprehensive win.
2. Shaik Rasheed : The India vice-captain, too, reserved his best performance for the semifinal against Australia, scoring 94 in a 204-run partnership with Dhull. That innings alone makes him a player to watch out for in the final - he is in form and confident, and will be keen to get into three figures days after narrowly missing out.
3. Vicky Ostwal : Ostwal has been India’s No. 1 spinner in the U-19 World Cup, picking a five-wicket haul in the first match against South Africa. What makes him a threat also is his economy rate - 3.39. With 12 wickets, he leads the wicket charts for India.
4. Rehan Ahmed : England left-arm spinner Rehan Ahmed has the same number of wickets as Ostwal despite having played two matches less. Ahmed has taken four wickets in each of the games he has played, and his penultimate over against Afghanistan in the semifinals in which he took three wickets turned the game around for England.
5. Tom Prest : The England captain plundered the bowling attack of UAE and Canada, scoring 93 and 154 not out, respectively, in England’s first two matches. He hasn’t scored as many runs in the next two matches, but will like to make an impact in the all-important final.
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