India U19 players Naman Tiwari and Murugan Abhishek kept the hopes of the Indian fans alive against the Australia U19 team in the final of the ICC U19 World Cup 2024. The match between the two teams took place at the Willowmoore Park in Benoni.
In the chase of 254 runs, India U19 didn’t get going at all. The batters failed to handle the pressure and lost wickets in quick succession of time. Australia bowlers were all over the opposition batters and picked 8 wickets in no time, taking the game away with ease.
India were left tottering at 128/8 inside the 38 overs. It was then that Murugan Abhishek and Naman Tiwari joined hands and tried to keep in the hunt. The duo held the fort and made sure that they took the game as deep as possible, frustrating the Australian bowlers.
Murugan Abhishek and Naman Tiwari added 46 runs together and tried to take the team close to the target. They gave their everything but couldn’t win the match as the Australia bowlers were all over the India batters and bundled them out for a low total to win the game for the team.
During the partnership, one thing that caught the attention of many was Naman Tiwari’s words to Murugan Abhishek. The duo knew that the match was far away from them but they made sure that they learned from the outing.
Naman Tiwari was heard saying to Murugan Abhishek: “Guru, yaad rakha, haarenge par seekh ke jayenge (Remember, we may lose but we will learn and go from here).”
Tiwari Saying to Murugan:
"Yaad rakha , haarenge par sekhh ke jayenge !!" pic.twitter.com/gn31SOakcu— 🎰 (@StanMSD) February 11, 2024
While Murugan Abhishek scored 42 runs off 46 balls, Namam Tiwari ended with an innings of unbeaten 14 runs off 35 balls. Australia bundled out India for 174 runs to win the game by 79 runs. This was their 4th ICC U19 World Cup win.
Naman Tiwari picks two wickets with the ball for India
Naman Tiwari was touch-expensive with the ball for India but he made sure that he provided the team with crucial breakthroughs. He picked two wickets for the team and helped them reduce Australia to a total of under 260 runs. But the batters couldn’t cash on the efforts put in by the bowlers.
India captain Uday Saharan praised the efforts of the team, saying that they showed good fighting spirit throughout the tournament. He admitted that they couldn’t execute their plans but they learnt a lot. Speaking after the game, he explained:
“I’m proud of the boys, they played really well. Showed good fighting spirit throughout the tournament. We played a few rash shots today, didn’t spend time in the middle. We were prepared but couldn’t execute the plans. Lots of learnings from this tournament, learnt a lot from the support staff and even during the games. We will try to keep learning and getting better,” He concluded
India were exceptional throughout the tournament as they displayed solid performances with bat and ball. They remained unbeaten in the league stage and then defeated South Africa in the semi-final. They entered the final as an undefeated team.
