DHAKA, Bangladesh, CMC – A campaign which started in disappointment could now end in glory for Young West Indies when they clash with India in the final of the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup here Sunday.
The Caribbean side started the tour of Asia poorly when they suffered a 3-0 whitewash at the hands of Bangladesh in a 50-overs warm-up series before being convincingly beaten by England Under-19s in their opening game of the tournament.
However, the Shimron Hetmyer-led side has grown in form and confidence as the event as gone on and now stand within touching distance of their first-ever Youth World Cup title.
For the third straight game, they will enter the contest as underdogs, a label with which Hetmyer said his team had now grown accustomed.
“It’s now a normal feeling for us because for the last two games we played, we were underdogs so it’s not really too much of a different feeling from the last two games,” he said ahead of the final.
He added: “We’ve looked at videos of them (India). They look like a well organised team. They know what they want. We will just try to do our stuff, do them as correctly as we possibly can and see if we can come out on top.”
West Indies Under-19s have been very impressive since the start of the Super League, knock out round. In the quarter-final against Pakistan, they breezed to a five-wicket win after chasing down 228 with ten overs to spare in Fatullah and followed up by shocking Bangladesh by three wickets in the semi-final last Thursday here in Dhaka.
Hetmyer said the squad had definitely improved a lot as the tournament had progressed and were now trying to tighten up various aspects of their game.
“I think we have learnt what our strengths and weaknesses are and we [have learned] what kind of shots to play on the pitches here in Bangladesh,” he explained.
“If you’ve been looking at the matches in Bangladesh, most of the people who have gotten starts and then gotten out are people who have played cross-batted shots. [Playing straight], that’s a big part of our game now.”
At the heart of their success has been the tall and quick new ball bowler Alzarri Joseph. He has bowled with consistent pace and movement, and his ten wickets have been the most by his side.
He averages 14 runs per wicket with a brilliant economy rate of three runs per over.
For the last two games, he has been partnered by fast bowler Chemar Holder – a late injury replacement for Obed McCoy – who has also rattled opposing batsmen with his pace.
Hetmyer said he was expecting nothing different from the duo in Sunday’s final at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
“The task remains the same. They just need to continue doing what they have been doing and they’ve been doing it quite well so far,” he noted.
“I think the task should be the same: just hitting their lengths hard [and] hitting the right areas that they think will reap the dividends for us.”
Hetmyer has also hit form at the right time as well. Entering the tournament as the batting leader, he scraped only 24 runs from his four innings but has struck half-centuries in his last two innings.
All-rounder Shamar Springer has been a revelation, carving out 106 against Fiji, 61 in a must-win final group game against Zimbabwe before following up with 37 in the quarter-final and an unbeaten 62 in the semis.
Five of his six wickets have come in the last three games.
Opener Gidron Pope’s 229 runs at an average of 45 with two half-centuries have been invaluable at the top of the order, while partner Tevin Imlach, Jyd Goolie and Keemo Paul have all hit half-centuries in the tournament.
Hetmyer said regardless of the outcome of the final, the Caribbean had every right to be proud of the squad.
“I would like to say to the people back in the Caribbean, ‘win or lose tomorrow just support the boys’,” Hetmyer said.
“We’ve come a long way from January 2015, so win or lose I think the boys have done quite a lot.”
West Indies’ best finish at an Under-19 World Cup was back in 2004 when a Denesh Ramdin-led side lost in the final to Pakistan.
The final bowls on Saturday at 11 pm, Eastern Caribbean time.
SQUADS:
INDIA – Ishan Kishan (captain), Khaleel Ahmed, Anmolpreet Singh, Armaan Jaffer, Avesh Khan, Rahul Batham, Ricky Bhui, Mayank Dagar, Sarfaraz Khan, Amandeep Khare, Mahipal Lomror, Shubham Mavi, +Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Zeeshan Ansari
WEST INDIES – Shimron Hetmyer (captain), Keacy Carty, Shahid Crooks, Michael Frew, Jyd Goolie, Chemar Holder, +Tevin Imlach, Ryan John, Alzarri Joseph, Kirstan Kallicharan, Keemo Paul, Gidron Pope, Odean Smith, Shamar Springer, Emmanuel Stewart.