Raj Limbani's three-wicket haul helps India hold Australia to 253 in Benoni

Indian pacers Raj Limbani and Naman Tiwari struck timely blows but Australia still managed to post a competitive 253 for seven in the U19 World Cup final SundayQuite understandably Australia chose to bat first in a pressure match but their batsmen except Harjas Singh who made a 55 64b 3x4 3x6 could not build on the starts on a rather easypaced pitchLimbani 338 who worked up a fair clip from the pitch bowled opener Sam Konstas with a lovely incoming delivery to deny the Aussies a quick start as they have done often in this tournamentBut the Australians found stability through Harry Dixon 42 56 balls and skipper Hugh Weibgen 48 66 ballsDixon in fact started off in a blazing fashion hammering leftarm pacer Tiwari 263 for 4 6 4 in the second over but he settled into a more sedate rhythm in the company of WeibgenThe hallmark of their secondwicket alliance that worth 78 runs in 181 overs was the way they played the Indian spinners a massive restrictive force throughout this showpieceThere were no big hits but Dixon and Weibgen managed to push the scoreboard forward with those singles and twos without taking any undue risksJust as the stand was coasting along Indian captain Uday Saharan threw the ball to Tiwari who was withdrawn after an expensive first spell in the U19 World Cup finalTiwari answered his leaders call in the perfect fashion getting rid of a set Weibgen whose drive away from the body nestled in the hands of Musheer Khan at pointThe leftarm quick dismissed Dixon two overs later to bring India back into the gameThe lefthanded Aussie opener had to check his shot at the last minute as Tiwaris backofthehand slower ball caught him in two minds and Murugan Abishek completed a fine tumbling catch inside the circleAlso ReadA shot at unprecedented gloryThe Aussies were 99 for three then But Harjas and Ryan Hicks 20 added 66 runs in 112 overs for the fourth wicket to keep their teams innings goingHarjas who till now averaged just eight in this event looked to struggle early on as he made just five runs off the first 20 ballsBut a six and four in successive balls off offspinner Priyanshu Moliya gave him the muchneeded confidenceThe lefthander was a transformed player from that point onwards and nullified the offbreaks of Abhishek with a series of sweeps and slogsweeps and two of them landed deep inside the stands for maximumsHarjas completed his first fifty of the tournament with a four off Tiwari to longoff but failed to stay longer as another attempt to sweep leftarm spinner Saumey Pandey saw him getting adjudged legbeforeRaf MacMillan too departed soon as the Australians were slipped to 187 for six but Oliver Peake 46 not out off 43 balls and Charlie Anderson 13 added precious 34 runs for the seventhwicketLimbani who seemed to struggle his hamstring in the latter stages of his spell returned to dismiss Anderson but the Aussies still managed to reach a healthy total as they made 66 off final 10 oversWith agency inputs