Townsville (Australia), Aug 26: India frittered away the early advantage as defending champions Australia recovered from a shaky start to post a competitive 225 for 8 in the final of the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup here today.
Electing to field after winning the toss amid overcast conditions, the Indians had the Aussies on the mat at 38 for 4 before host skipper William Bosisto (87 not out) rebuilt the innings with the help of some notable contributions down the order.
Both teams named the same XIs that had got them through the knockouts. While Australia, aiming for a fourth title, entered the final undefeated, India had lost one game in the first group stage to the West Indies.
Sandeep Sharma was the pick of the bowlers for India, grabbing four wickets in his 10 overs that conceded 54 runs and included a couple of maidens.
In conditions that have favoured bowlers all through the tournament, two-time winners India could not have asked for a better start as Sharma struck in his very first over.
He removed both the openers—Cameron Bancroft (2) and Jimmy Peirson (0) -- in his first spell itself. The Oz team was looking down the barrel as a couple of more wickets fell in quick succession.
However, Bosisto took charge of the proceedings and gradually steadied the ship sharing a 65-run fifth wicket stand with Travis Head (37) to start with.
