Catches win you matches, as the saying goes, and that proved true once again in this contest. Afghanistan U19 batted brilliantly, but a few costly dropped catches ended up coming back to haunt them badly. India U19 made full use of those chances, kept the chase under control, and comfortably crossed the line to seal their place in yet another U19 World Cup Final. So, itβs all set for a blockbuster grand finale on Friday, with India U19 taking on England U19 for the title. For now, this is Ninaad Dixit signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Pritam Dey who, along with scorer/analyst Dushyant Madhukar Kumar & statistician Aman brought all the updates of this clash. Stay tuned for more cricketing action from around the world.
Highest Individual Score for India in U19 WC Knockouts: 129* - Cheteshwar Pujara vs England, Colombo (RPS), 2006 (SF) 115 - Aaron George vs Afghanistan, Harare, 2026* (SF) 111* - Unmukt Chand vs Australia, Townsville, 2012 (Final)
Ayush Mhatre (India U19 Captain): [on making the finals] "The feeling is really nice. Playing a World Cup final is really nice. The start was really nice from Afghanistan batters. In middle overs the bowlers really bowled well but in the last 10 overs they made a good comeback.
[discussion at the halfway stage] The discussion was simple to play our natural game. The wicket was really flat.
[on Vaibhav Suryavanshi] Vaibhav played a major role in our chase. 90 runs in the first powerplay was really good. He released the pressure and made it easier for us to build the chase.
[on Aaron George] Aaron is a fabulous and classy batsman. He was batting really well without big scores. We were confident he will play his natural game and build the innings nice.
[conditions in Harare] The conditions are really nice here. The boys are doing well. We will keep playing well and do good on the field.
[on the message back home] Just support us. We will give our 110% on the field and win the cup also.
[on just a day's gap before final] We are used to these conditions. We are used to playing after a day's gap in India so we hope to recover in time."
Mahboob Khan (Afghanistan U19 Captain): "(On posting 310) Yes, it was a very good batting performance from the team. Faisal and Uzairullah batted really well. Because of them we managed to post 310. It was a good total on the board but we missed few catches in the first powerplay and our bowlers didn't bowl at the right areas. That's why we lost the match.
Today we batted really well. Our plan was to post 250 but we scored 310. We were really happy with the total. It was just a bad day for us.
(On Faisal Shinozada) Faisal was our best batter in the tournament. He is a future star for us. Hopefully he will play at a higher level.
The wicket was good for batting but all I can say is that, we had a bad day today. I am proud of the team. I am very happy."
Aaron George (Player of the Match): "I think I was very grateful that I got the opportunity to do this and it was also a crucial game for the team so I am very happy to contribute.
I knew that I have been batting well throughout the tournament but I wasn't converting my starts into a big one but I knew that a big knock was just around the corner. I kept believing in myself.
I think everybody almost played to their full potential. Very happy to see our top order doing so well. Looking forward to the Final."
Player of the Match: Aaron George
Most appearances in the Under-19 ODI World Cup Final:
10 - India*
6 - Australia
5 - Pakistan
Highest Successful Chases in U19 ODI WC:
311/3 by India vs Afghanistan, Harare, 2026* (T-311)
305/7 by New Zealand vs Ireland, Colombo (RPS), 2006 (T-305)
298/8 by South Africa vs Bangladesh, Coolidge, 2022 (T-294)
Highest Successful Chases for India in Youth ODIs:
311/3 vs Afghanistan, Harare, 2026* (T-311)
306/9 vs England, Taunton, 2002 (T-304)
296/6 vs Pakistan, Kolkata, 1990 (T-296)
275/6 vs South Africa, Vizag, 2013 (T-271)
274/6 vs England, Northampton, 2025 (T-269)
Highest Successful Chases in U19 ODI WC Knockouts:
311/3 by India vs Afghanistan, Harare, 2026 (SF)* (T-311)
248/8 by India vs South Africa, Benoni, 2024 (SF) (T-245)
242/3 by England vs New Zealand, Johannesburg, 1998 (Final) (T-242)
239/8 by New Zealand vs West Indies, Benoni, 2020 (QF) (T-239)
238/7 by New Zealand vs West Indies, Townsville, 2012 (QF) (T-238)