OTD | West Indies U-19 team beat India to win the World Cup title in 2016

West Indies have not been a consistent force when it comes to the Under-19 World Cup. However, they achieved glory in 2016 when they won the tournament for the first time beating the 3-time champions India in a hard-fought final. It was a glorious moment for the young lads from the Caribbean who were dreaming of regaining the glory of West Indies cricket. 

Poor Indian batting effort

Shimron Hetmyer won the toss for West Indies and invited India to bat first. The 3-time champions were left stunned by the way West Indies started their bowling stint. The express fast bowler Alzarri Joseph dismissed the opener Rishabh Pant, and Anmolpreet Singh in the first couple of overs of his spell. Pant had been in fine form throughout the tournament and his dismissal was a big setback for the side batting first. The Indians were trying to get out of the early setbacks but they had to undergo another big blow when the skipper Ishan Kishan was caught off-guard in front of the stumps by Alzarri Joseph. 

Sarfaraz Khan tried to keep his team alive in the contest with a gritty half-century but apart from his knock there were no other major contributions from any other batter. As a result of this collapse, India could only post 145 runs on the board before they got bowled out in the first innings.

Early hiccups – Not enough

The Indian team knew that it had a humongous task to do as the target was not huge. But the key early wickets enthused life into the contest once again. West Indies lost half of their side for 77 runs and at that point, the match was hanging in balance. But match-winning knocks from Keacy Carty and Keemo Paul guided the chasing side across the finishing line. Eventually, West Indies completed the run chase winning the all-important final by 5 wickets to lift their first-ever Under-19 World Cup title against a formidable Indian team.