#OTD: India beat Australia to clinch U-19 WC 2012

On August 26, 2012, Unmukt Chand displayed his batting brilliance for India against Australia in the final of the U-19 World Cup 2012, played in Townsville and helped his side to a six-wicket victory.

At the toss, Unmukt emerged victorious and invited the Aussie side to bat first. Sandeep Sharma gave a perfect start to India as he got rid of Jimmy Peirson and Cameron Bancroft early. Kurtis Patterson and Meyrick Buchanan also departed early and Australia were reeling at a score of 38/4 in 11.2 overs. In the crunch situation, captain William Bosisto stepped up and stitched a 65-run stand with Travis Head for the fifth wicket off 107 balls.

Head got run out in the 30th over of the game and the partnership got shattered. Ashton Turner also stood with Bosisto and built an effective 93-run stand for the sixth wicket. Sandeep got the better of Turner, who played a 43-run innings off 50 balls. Eventually, Australia completed their 50 overs and erected a total of 225/8. Bosisito went back to the dugout with his score of an unbeaten 87 off 120.

Unmukt Chand’s batting heroics guided India U-19 to a comfortable win

Chasing the target, India lost Prashant Chopra in the second over as pacer Mark Steketee went the opener back to the dugout on a duck. Following the early loss, Baba Aparajith joined his skipper Unmukt and both built a 74-run stand for the second wicket off 80 balls. Gurinder Sandhu dismissed Aparajith at the latter’s individual score of 33 off 38. With Aparajith’s scalp, Australia made a sensational comeback in the game.

India lost Hanuma Vihari and Vijay Zol in quick succession and saw themselves under immense trouble. However, wicketkeeper batter Smit Patel, who came at number six, supported Unmukt to help the side pull off the target successfully. India chased down the total in 47.4 overs with six wickets in hand. Unmukt notched up an unbeaten 111 off 130 while Smit hammered an unbeaten 62 off 84. Unmukt’s batting performance made him the Player of the Match (POTM) and India lifted the coveted U-19 trophy for the third time.