India continued their dominance in the Under-19 Asia Cup as they thrashed Sri Lanka in a rain-affected final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
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The India Under-19 cricket team produced a magnificent performance in the Asia Cup tournament on Friday. The Under-19 Asia Cup has seen nine editions of the tournament being played prior to 2021, with India winning seven and sharing one trophy with Pakistan in 2012 in Malaysia. In 2021, the Indian cricket team continued their Under-19 dominance in the tournament. In a rain-affected match in Dubai, India Under-19 won by nine wickets to win the trophy in grand style.
Nothing went right for Sri Lanka when they won the toss and chose to bat. A slow start built pressure, with the Indian bowlers maintaining discipline. Ravi Kumar broke through when he dismissed Chamindu Wickramasingha cheaply. When Shevon Daniel, the other opener fell to Raj Bawa for 6, Sri Lanka Under-19 had managed just 16 runs in 11 overs. Wickets continued to tumble when offspinner Kaushal Tambe trapped Anjala Bandara LBW.
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At 59/7 in the 27th over, the match was headed towards an embarrassing zone for Sri Lanka. A rain break reduced the match to 38 overs. Yasiru Rodrigo and Matheesha Pathirana tried to up the ante but they were restricted to 106/9. Vicky Ostwal was the star for India with 3/11.
The rain break saw India needing to chase a revised target of 102 according to the DLS method. Sri Lanka looked to fight when Yasiru Rodrigo dismissed Harnoor Singh for 5. But, after that, it was smooth sailing for India Under-19. Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Shaik Rasheed pounced on some wayward bowling from Sri Lanka. Rasheed and Raghuvanshi calmly got India closer to the target with a brilliant partnership. Raghuvanshi was the more aggressive of the batters as he smashed his 50. It was fittingly Raghuvanshi who sealed the deal in just the 22nd over by hitting Pathirana for a boundary to bring glory to India.
Ever since the U-19 Asia Cup was played in 1989, India has always won. This was the fifth time that Sri Lanka had lost in the final to India in the Under-19 Asia Cup. India had won by margins of 79 runs, eight wickets, 34 runs, 144 runs, and nine wickets in 1989, 2003, 2016, 2018 and now in 2021.
Afghanistan is the only country to have the Under-19 Asia Cup when they defeated Pakistan by 185 runs in 2017 in Malaysia. But, this win in 2021 has once again shown that India are ultimate superpowers in world youth cricket.
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