ICC U-19 WC: Magnificent Manjot Kalra's century against Australia hands India the title

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Mount Maunganui, February 3: India clinched the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup after beating Australia by eight wickets in the final, courtesy a sublime century by Manjot Kalra at the Bay Oval on Saturday (February 3).

SCORECARD| U-19 special | Natural game

This is India's fourth Under-19 World Cup title in 12 editions, winning it after a gap of six years. Even their last final victory came against Australia under the leadership of Unmukt Chand in 2012. Under Ishan Kishan's captaincy two years ago, they fell short in the final hurdle against West Indies.

This time though, the Rahul Dravid-coached side showed maturity in the big game. Needing 217 for the win, the left-handed Kalra struck an unbeaten 101 off 102 balls to see India through in 38.5 overs. Harvik Desai chipped in with an unbeaten 47 off 61, complimenting the collective effort of the Indian bowlers earlier to restrict Australia to the sub-par score.

The Australian attack, on the other hand, lacked the punch to find the breakthrough even after Param Uppal (1/38) gave them hope briefly.

Skipper Prithvi Shaw and Kalra were off to a solid start before rain interrupted play for a while at 23 for no loss.

The Indians made up for the delay with some delightful shots. Kalra was ruthless against Jack Edwards specifically, dishing out three boundaries in the 11th over. The next over, right-arm pacer Will Sutherland provided Australia the breakthrough, dismissing Shaw with a good length ball.

After Shaw's departure, Kalra took over. Shubman Gill (31 off 30) provided some company and stitched a decent 60-run stand with Kalra for the second wicket. But he became too ambitious against Uppal when he charged down the track, and lets the ball slip between the bat and leg. It was the first time that Gill was dismissed for less than 50 in the World Cup.

Gill's scores this World Cup - 63 vs Australia (league stage), - vs PNG, 90* vs Zimbabwe, 86 vs Bangladesh, 102* vs Pakistan, 31 vs Australia. His total of 372 is second to West Indies' Alick Athanaze (418) on the run-getters' list.

Uppal kept testing the Indians further but Kalra was flawless. He laced his innings with eight boundaries and three sixes. Kalra was almost in danger of missing out on his ton as Desai was in a hurry to finish the proceedings. He finally got it when India were four runs away from the championship, taking a single off Will Sutherland on the leg side to become just the second Indian to score a hundred in the U-19 World Cup final. In the last final that India won in 2012, Unmukt Chand scored 111 against Australia in Townsville.

Desai then scored the winning runs through a boundary as India remained unbeaten in the tournament.

Earlier, Australia captain Jason Sangha opted to bat after winning the toss but his team was sluggish. Openers Max Bryant (14 off 12) and Jack Edwards (28 off 29) departed early and India capitalised on their opponents struggles.

At one stage, Australia looked to post in the range of 260 and If not for the Indian spinners, they might as well would have.

Jonathan Merlo top-scored for Australia with a neat 76 off 102 balls but once he departed, the Australian tail-enders put up only four runs on the board. Merlo had a good thing going with Param Uppal (34 off 58) and Nathan McSweeney (23 off 29) but both could not convert their good starts into big knocks.

Left-arm spinners Anukul Roy (2/32) and Shiva Singh (2/36) picked up the crucial wickets for India. Roy moved up to 14 wickets and is the joint highest wicket-taker in the U-19 World Cup along with Qais Ahmed of Afghanistan and Faisal Jamkhandi of Canada.

Roy broke the partnership between Merlo and Uppal at 75 in the 29th over. Uppal looked to play one on the leg side but Roy turned it a bit slow to induce an outside edge and picked up the return catch to provide the breakthrough.

McSweeney departed in a similar way to Shiva Singh 11 overs later. Merlo, running out of partners, attempted to play the big one in the last five overs. In the 46th over, he looked to touch the boundary beyond point with a reverse sweep, but his shot was just short of the ropes and was picked up by Shiva, off Roy. That sparked Australia's downfall and they succumbed two overs later, adding only four runs.

Pacers Kamlesh Nagarkoti (2/41) and Shivam Mavi (1/46) finished the job for skipper Prithvi Shaw. Ishan Porel's 2/30 early in the innings denied Australia a good start.