India U19 players Naman Tiwari and Murugan Abhishek kept the hopes of 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 254-run chase, India U19 failed to advance. The batsmen could not handle the pressure and lost wickets in quick succession. The Australian bowlers were on top of the opposition batsmen and picked 8 wickets in no time, taking the game with ease.
India reeled at 128/8 inside 38 overs. That’s when Murugan Abhishek and Naman Tiwari joined hands and tried to stay in the hunt. The duo held the fort and made sure to take the game as deep as possible, frustrating the Australian players.
Murugan Abhishek and Naman Tiwari added 46 runs together and tried to take the team closer to the target. They gave their all but could not win the match as Australia’s bowlers were all over the Indian batsmen and defeated them for a low total to win the game for the team.
During the association, one thing that caught the attention of many was Naman Tiwari’s words to Murugan Abhishek. The duo knew the match was far from them, but they made sure to learn from the outing.
Naman Tiwari was heard telling Murugan Abhishek, “Guru, yaad rakha, haarenge par seekh ke jayenge (Remember, we may lose, but we will learn and go from here).”
Tiwari tells 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 finished with an unbeaten innings of 14 runs off 35 balls. Australia beat India by 174 runs to win the game by 79 runs. This was their fourth victory in the ICC U19 World Cup.
Naman Tiwari picks two wickets with the ball for India
Naman Tiwari was costly in touch with the ball for India but made sure to give the team crucial breakthroughs. He picked two wickets for the team and helped them reduce Australia to a total of less than 260 runs. But the batsmen could not capitalize on the efforts made by the pitchers.
India captain Uday Saharan praised the team’s efforts and said they showed good fighting spirit throughout the tournament. He admitted that they were not able to execute their plans but they learned a lot. Speaking after the match, he explained:
“I’m proud of the boys, they played very well. He showed good fighting spirit throughout the tournament. Today we played some rushed shots, we didn’t waste any time in the middle. We were prepared but we could not execute the plans. Many learnings from this tournament, I learned a lot from the support staff and even during the games. We will try to continue learning and improving,” he concluded.
India were exceptional throughout the tournament as they showed solid performances with bat and ball. They remained undefeated in the league stage and then defeated South Africa in the semi-final. They reached the final as an undefeated team.