South Africa had two early strikes to remove both the openers, Taruwar Kohli and S Goswami. Tanmay Srivastava adopted his natural aggressive mien and Virat Kohli played the anchor role to see India to 73 off just over 20 overs. Jusr as they were accelerating, skipper Virat Kohli holed out. Tanmay tries to cut over the point and holes out to Englebrech.
India in some trouble now and this is looking SA’s game.
South Africa are in the driver’s seat at the moment as India has slumped to 136/6 in 39 overs, SA did a great job in the field their accurate bowling was backed up by brilliant fielding. Plenty of work left for India in this match, first a decent score, and some good bowling and fielding to hold the fast improving SA batting line-up.
Update
A bit of help from rain gods and some disciplined bowling India are back in the match and SA need 27 off 13 balls which is not by any means impossible to get but certainly is difficult.
A close a game and nailbitting conclusion. I watched the game on geo and despite the rain interuptions the cricket was good and India’s bowling was very impressive.India won two finals yesterday and it was a memorable day for the bcci
Kasim Saheb,
It will be hard to change Kamran Akmal now as he has regained his form with the bat and his form as a keeper, he should have been kicked out of the team almost a year ago but the selectors kept on selecting him stating that no other keeper is good enough to replace him but since Sarfraz Ahmed came on the scene Kamran’s performance has dramatically improved,I am not a fan of Kamran Akmal and would like Sarfraz Ahmed in the team.
The current management because of their lack of professional knowledge is more in favor of Status quo, they are fearful of any changes, it is evident from the fact that they have given Shoaib Akher so many chances and have neglected other fast bowlers, Inzamam era has done serious damage to our team he kept on neglecting young players, a player like Misbah who was consistently the #1 batsman in the country for 6 years in a row could not get a chance in the team, the domestic structure is flawed this is the first time that PCB has made some positive changes but still a lot needs to be done. We need professional cricketers in the management who can identify talent like Imran or Miandad.
The domestic cricket should be made more competitive and tough, this current ABN Amro Cup has been a complete failure not only from the financial point of view but also from the organizing and quality of cricket point of view most of the matches have been played on dead wickets the teams are not balanced imagine there is no recognizable fast bowler in Punjab’s team, either players have gone to play for ICL or they were not selected or they were unfit.
There is no program in place for the nurturing and development of new talent, can anybody single out a new player, who was developed at the cricket academy in Muridke, whereas a lot of players are coming out of Rashid Latif’s academy in Karachi, I think the problem is with the system and the management.
Kasim Saheb,
I thought you were talking about Ali Asad.I agree with you on Kamran.
Abrar Saheb,
It was in a lighter vain, since we will not change Kamran Akmal or several other “sifarishi” players as long as our whole system does not change, not only cricket but the entire system.
I hope you will forgive me if I have hurt your feelings.
Mr Kasim
I have published the picture according to your wish,I would not like to comment on other blogs as everybody has their own policy.
Kasim Saheb Why should we hire a foreign keeper? Ali Asad performed really well in the tournament,only Shan Masood,Umar Akmal and Umar Amin were the non deserving players in team otherwise the rest of the players were better than any other player in the tournament in a pound to pound analysis.
It was a lucky win for India,they should thank messers D/L for making them the new champions, SAu19 team is a much better team than the Indian team and at least 5 players from their team will make it up to the senior team in near future.
Wasim,
Please publish the photo I referred to above, if, possible, I dont know if you have to get permission from Cricinfo or what, but atleast dont follow other blogs and publish those pornographic photos since most conservative Muslim families also visit your site and appreciate your liberal approach.
Thanks.
India have won the under 19s World cup against the run of the play! Congratulations to them.
But the most impressive display was the bowling and fielding of the South African team acoording the Cricinfo.
Just look at the photo of one the the fielders, Sybrand Engelbrecht on the report page of Cricinfo!!
Beside him, there is another outstanding fielder acoording to report, namely Riley Rossouw, wicket-keeper Bradley Barnes (can Pakistan hire a wicket-keeper? why not, if you can hire a foriegn coach, why not a wicket -keeper? or some fielders?)
And another pleasant surprise, a Muslim boy by the name of Mohammed Yaseen Vallie, an all-rounder is also in the South African team, while some talented players in Pakistan are not selected because they dont belong to a certain area!!
It was a superb win for India in a close contest. The Indian team has played as a unit throughout the tournament and today was no different.
However, I do hope they will not get carried away by all the cash rewards they will recieve now. I also feel the current crop of U-19 players will find it a little more difficult to break in the senior Indian team, as there already are many youngsters who are doing well for the seniors.
India are going to lose this one, South africa will emerge as the giant killer of this tournament their fielding is superb.