After being set a challenging target of 279 to win, the young Windies struggled to 170 all out in just 43 overs. The team got off to a solid enough start when openers Matthew Nandu and Shaqkere Parris put on 30 in the opening overs. Parris was, however, the first to go after being dismissed by fast bowler Garv Sangwan. The other batters, unfortunately, followed in quick succession, with Teddy Bishop being dismissed ten balls later, and Sangwan going lbw with the score on 35.
Nandu managed another 30 with Jordan Johnson (10) before falling to the spin of Manav Parakh in the 18th over, with the total at 65 for three.
Windies skipper Akeem Auguste went for a duck after also being bowled by Parakh, Rivaldo Clarke (11), and vice-captain Giovonte Depeiza (10) were also gone midway through the innings.
Nandu eventually departed in the 33rd over with a top-score of 52 off 101 balls, after being a victim of left-arm spinner Aneeshwar Gautam, caught by Kaushal Tambe. Off-spinner Tambe then wrapped up the innings with the wickets of Carlon Bowen-Tuckett (20), Anderson Mahase (1), and an attacking Johann Layne.
Earlier in the innings, the team set a furious pace after skipper Yash Dhull won the toss. Things did not start well, however, as the team found themselves at 18 for two in the seventh after excellent work from Layne got rid of openers Harnoor Singh and Angkrish Raghuvanshi.
Dhull, however, led a strong revival with 52 off 67 balls and put on 85 for the third wicket with Shaik Rasheed. Aradhya Yadav attacked the bowling and added 82 for the fifth wicket with top-scorer Nishant Sindhu, who lashed seven fours and three sixes in an unbeaten 78 off 76 balls, effectively putting the match out of reach.
Scores
India U-19s 278-6, 50 overs (Nishant Sindhu 78 n.o., Yash Dhull 52, Aradhya Yadav 42; Johann Layne 3/51)
WI U-19s 170 all out, 43 overs (Matthew Nandu 52; Kaushal Tambe 3/30, Manav Parakh 3/34, Garv Sangwan 2/18, Aneeshwar Gautam 2/37). --India U-19s won by 108 runs.
With the West Indies U19 team being unavailable to tour England during the proposed window, CWI and the ECB have worked together to investigate all alternative scheduling options but unfortunately, it has not been possible to find a time for the tour that would work for both Boards in relation to the respective domestic tournaments and player availability.
The scheduled programme had included one IT20, three ODIs and two Youth Tests against England U19s, which had been set to run between 16 August and 3 September 2020.
As the current environment makes it impractical to plan to host alternative opposition, the decision has had to be taken not to run a competitive England U19 programme this summer.
“CWI and the ECB have agreed to cancel a proposed U19 tour of the UK due to scheduling issues. The situation is an unfortunate one as we had planned for the tour to be the end of a two-year development cycle for this group of U19 players,” said CWI Director of Cricket Jimmy Adams.
“This tour to the UK added to the recent World Cup in January, and the tri-series that we hosted in Dec of last year would have given this cohort an excellent competitive component to cap their 2-year U19 program.
“That said, we will continue to follow up on the cohort, especially those not contracted to franchises, through our Emerging Player program, which has so far facilitated many of our upcoming players who fall in the 19-23 category. Thankfully, while the tour to the UK will not proceeds this year, the ECB are committed to hosting our U19s at a mutually convenient time in the future.”
Mo Bobat, ECB Performance Director said cancelling the summer programme for their U19 side was not an easy decision to take.
“But with it not having been possible to identify a window for the tour that works for both Boards - and in the current climate - it is certainly the most appropriate step,” he said.
“Our young players benefit greatly from these competitive matches against their peers from around the world, not just in preparation for the biennial U19 World Cups, but also to prepare them for the rigours of international cricket.
“The squad learned a lot from their tri-series in Antigua in December 2019, so we look forward to welcoming the West Indians back to the UK in the future.”
