Thrilling finishes in the history of ICC U19 Cricket World Cup

2006 – Sri Lanka

18 February – Nepal v New Zealand

Plate Championship final

At Colombo (PSS): New Zealand 204 all out, 49.2 overs (Todd Astle 66, Shaun Fitzgibbon 29; Basant Regmi 3-41)

Nepal 205-9, 49.4 overs (Basant Regmi 66, Ratan Rauniyar 26 not out; Hamish Bennett 3-42)

Result: Nepal won by one wicket

New Zealand, which included future internationals like Todd Astle, Martin Guptill, Ronnie Hira, Tim Southee, Colin Munro and Hamish Bennett, batted first after winning the toss. Apart from opener Astle, no-one from its team could build on starts, and its innings closed on 204.

Nepal’s reply stuttered, and when big hope Paras Khadka became the sixth wicket to fall with just 75 runs on the board in the 27^thover, it seemed an uphill task for the Associate nation. That’s when Basant Regmi capped a fine all-round performance by scoring 66 match-winning runs and combining beautifully with late-order batsmen Prem Chaudhary and Ratan Rauniyar, who scored 26 each. New Zealand thought they could still close it out when man of the match Regmi was sent back and the last pair of Rauniyar and Raj Shrestha needed to score 13 off 10 balls. However, the pair stuck it out to earn Nepal its only Plate Championship, with just two balls to spare.

19 February – India v Pakistan

Final

At Colombo (RPS): Pakistan 109 all out, 41.1 overs (Rameez Raja 25; Piyush Chawla 4-8, Ravindra Jadeja 3-16)

India 71 all out, 18.5 overs (Piyush Chawla 25 not out; Anwar Ali 5-35, Akhtar Ayub 3-9)

Result: Pakistan won by 38 runs

Just like the Plate Championship final, the tournament final after the Super League was also quite dramatic in nature. After winning the toss and batting first, Pakistan, was given a quick start through opener Nasir Jamshed before India spinners Piyush Chawla and Ravindra Jadeja took centre-stage. Leg break googly bowler Chawla destroyed the Pakistan middle-order to finish with 4-8 – a new record for the best figures in an ICC U19 CWC final and one that would be his for only a couple of hours.

Pakistan had been bowled out for a paltry 109, and with the strong India batting line-up featuring man of the series Cheteshwar Pujara, many would have thought defending champion Pakistan would have to relinquish its title.

Right-arm medium fast bowler Anwar Ali, however, had other ideas. He took three wickets in his first over and broke Chawla’s record, returning figures of 5-35 and dismissing Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Mayank Tehlan, Debabrata Das and Jadeja. Anwar’s efforts, which also earned him the man of the match award, meant the India batting card read a dismal 23-7 after eight overs. India was eventually bowled out for 71, as Pakistan became the first team to defend the ICC U19 CWC title.

2008 – Malaysia

2 March – India v South Africa

Final

At Kuala Lumpur: India 159 all out, 45.4 overs (Tanmay Srivastava 46, Manish Pandey 20; Wayne Parnell 2-21)

South Africa (target 116 from 25 overs) 103-8, 25 overs (Reeza Hendricks 35, Wayne Parnell 29; Ajitesh Argal 2-7)

Result: India won by 12 runs (D-L method)

Continuing the trend of thrilling finals, the next edition in Malaysia was a rain-curtailed one that saw South Africa fielding first after winning the toss against India. Two wickets each from new-ball bowlers Wayne Parnell and Matthew Arnold and another couple from Roy Adams helped South Africa bowl out India for 159, with only Tanmay Srivastava showing some resistance.

Heavy showers during the second innings then curtailed the match. South Africa, which had been reduced to 17-3, was given a revised equation of 99 from 98 balls. Parnell batted well to make it a fine all-round performance. However, tight bowling from the Indians, and especially from man of the match Ajitesh Argal, left South Africa needing 19 to win from the last over. Siddarth Kaul stepped up to deliver it for India, and took a couple of wickets as India won by 12 runs to lift the trophy for the second time.

2010 – New Zealand

17 January – Bangladesh v West Indies

Group D

At Palmerston North: West Indies 249-8, 50 overs (Andre Creary 55, Jermaine Blackwood 48; Shaker Ahmed 2-39)

Bangladesh 248 all out, 49.4 overs (Tasamul Haque 54, Sabbir Rahman 53; Akeem Dewar 3-63)

Result: West Indies won by one run

After winning the toss, the West Indies slumped to 20-3 having chosen to bat first. A half-century from Andre Creary and contributions of 44 and 48 from Yannick Cariah and Jermaine Blackwood respectively helped it recover and set Bangladesh a required run rate of exactly five per over to win.

Leg break bowlers Akeem Dewar and Yannick Cariah ran through the Bangladesh top and middle-order. Sabbir Rahman and Tasamul Haque revived Bangladesh’s fortunes with half-centuries, but victory seemed distant for the side from Asia when it found itself at 194-7 in the 44^th over, still needing 56 from 40 balls. A late cameo from Alauddin Babu, who scored 16 off just nine balls, brought them close to an unlikely win. In the last over, Jason Holder, who has since gone on to play for the West Indies in ODIs, dealt the crucial blow by removing Tasamul with two needed from four balls. Last man Shaker Ahmed was then run out attempting a bye to the wicket-keeper off the very next ball, as the see-saw battle saw the West Indies winning by just one run.