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Big picture: India and England aim for glory
The Under-19 World Cups come thick and fast: once every two years. Soon enough, most of the players appearing in Friday’s final will graduate, their cricket limited by franchises and passports rather than age limits. But for now, India and England’s roads at this World Cup finally converge.
Both teams are unbeaten in the tournament so far. England stormed into the final after their captain, Thomas Rew, starred with a 110 that took them to a 27-run victory against defending champions Australia.
India were faced with a tall task of chasing down a record-setting 311, against Afghanistan. However, India’s batters – led by a swashbuckling century by opener Aaron George – raced to the target with 53 balls and seven wickets to spare, to lay down the marker on a Harare pitch that should continue to have plenty in it for the batters.
India and England have met once in the recent past: they faced off in a warm-up match right before the tournament proper. In the rain-interrupted encounter, Rew starred with a 66-ball 71* to take England home. This time around, there will be plenty more stakes involved for either side. They might as well be facing each other for the first time.
India WWWWW (last five games, most recent first)
England WWWWW
Players to watch – Aaron George and Thomas Rew
Aaron George was having an underwhelming Under-19 World Cup at the top of the order for India. His scores at the tournament had been 7, 23, and 16 when he came out to bat against Afghanistan. Under the spotlight, though, he put in his most impressive showing of the tournament. He led the chase with poise, being the last wicket to fall with just 11 runs left to knock off. By then, he had peppered the Afghan bowlers around the ground for 15 fours and two sixes during a classy 104-ball 115. He might revel under the spotlight some more in the final.
Thomas Rew has led England from the front in more ways than one. He is the fourth-highest run-getter in the tournament, with 299 runs at an average of 74.75 and an equally impressive strike rate of 101.01. His footwork has been a class above his fellow England batters against spin especially, and if the Harare surface decides to spin and bounce, he will be keen to take off from where he left during his century against Australia in the first semi-final.
The Harare Sports Club has served up fast-paced pitches in the tournament so far. The semi-final between India and Afghanistan was a belter in particular, with the ball coming onto the bat and seeing an aggregate of 621 runs scored between both sides at a run rate of 6.81. If the final happens on a similar surface, conditions will favour the batters again.
The weather on Friday has a chance of light rain: the match will begin at 9.30am local time; shower and thunder might roll in after 5pm. The temperature will hover around the mid-20s (Celsius) throughout.
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