India need three runs off the last ball with one wicket in hand. Mohit Ulva is on strike. Leg-spinner Ahmed Hussain has bowled a decent over until then. Now, he tried to bowl flat, as spinners often do to prevent a boundary. But Mohit dances down the track and smashes it to the wide long-off boundary.

He clears the in-field, and that is that: India become U19 Asia Cup champions for the ninth time and their camp erupts in joy.

The scenes at Al Amerat Cricket Ground were unreal as Indian U19 did the unthinkable in the summit clash of the Asia Cup. Chasing 338, they were down and out after losing their eighth wicket with only 252 on the board. India needed 86 runs off 51 balls and at the time, a win seemed almost impossible.

However, Ulva, who came out to bat at No.10, didn’t give up and, along with the already set Manal Chauhan, added 57 for the ninth wicket to bring the target within their reach. Even after the latter was dismissed, Ulva kept his cool and Chigurupati Venkata also played a vital hand at 11, smashing a couple of fours at crucial junctures.

Eventually, the game went down to the last over and it was Ulva (49* off 26) who reigned supreme as India registered the highest successful run-chase in the history of Youth ODIs.

The earlier record also belonged to the Indian team as they chased 321 runs against Sri Lanka in July this year.

Highest successful run-chases in Youth ODI history

Coming back to the match, the Indian openers, skipper Lakshya Raichandani (80) and Aaryavir Sehwag (58), laid a solid foundation with a 95-run stand up front in the chase. However, once the partnership was broken, Pakistan struck to pick up wickets at regular intervals.

When India lost their captain and Anvay Dravid off consecutive deliveries in the 37th over, Pakistan seemed to have one foot over the line. At 252-8 a few overs later, they looked set to lift their second consecutive U19 Asia Cup trophy, but Ulva and other lower-order batters had other ideas as they pulled off a heist for India.

Earlier in the game, Pakistan batters took the attack to the Indian bowlers after opting to bat. They got off to a sensational start, even as their opener Usman Khan (107) notched up a century while number three batter Abdul Qadir smashed 80 off just 54 deliveries. They reached 200 in the 28th over with only two wickets down and looked set to post a total in excess of 350, but India pulled things back at the death, with Kavya Patel and Venkata accounting for four and three wickets respectively to restrict Pakistan to 337 runs.

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