New Delhi: India and Australia face each other in the finals of the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2018 at the Bay Oval in Tauranga. Both the sides are a win away from becoming the most successful ones in the history of the tournament. Both sides have won the title thrice with a fairly even record in ICC U-19 Cricket World Cups when it comes to head-to-head encounters but India have had the edge in recent years as well as in this tournament, which culminates after an elaborate league-cum-knockout competition that saw 16 teams in the fray.
India had beaten Australia by 100 runs in their tournament opener besides also winning the previous two matches against them including at the 2012 final, which was the last of India’s three titles. Australia’s wins against India in the tournament came in 1988 and 1998.
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India are the only unbeaten side in the tournament with the win over Australia being their lowest margin of victory. They are considered as a balanced side with the Shubman Gill-led batting line-up and a potent fast bowling attack giving captain Prithvi Shaw several options as they look to add a fourth title to the ones India won in 2000, 2008 and 2012.
On the eve of the match, India captain Prithvi Shaw said he was comforted by the fact that the fast bowling attack had been doing well right from the first match.
“Whenever the team’s needed them, they (fast bowlers) have provided the breakthroughs. They’re ready whenever I ask them to bowl. They’ve good intensity as well, their fitness is great as well. All of them . Kamlesh (Nagarkoti), (Ishan) Porel, (Shivam) Mavi. It helps us all have a good attitude in the field, we’re all really pumped up when our fast bowlers do well.
Shaw was not bothered that the batting line-up had not been tested enough, with the openers getting solid starts in all but one of five matches, including two century partnerships, and number three batsman Gill aggregating 341 runs at an average of 170.50, including one innings as opener.
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“I have confidence that even if we get one partnership, we can take charge of the match and take the score to 250-300. If you look at our match against Australia too, we put up a good total, even though we lost a couple of wickets after an early partnership. The middle order also controlled the innings well,” he said.
Shaw though was cautious and said Australia had a better side than the one they had beaten early on and that he would focus on his own team doing well. (With ANI inputs).