Red Bull Campus Cricket World Final 2019: Unbeaten South Africa lift the trophy

After a series of thrilling and exciting matches, a successful edition of Red Bull Campus Cricket 2019 has come to an end. South Africa (University of Pretoria) displayed dominance throughout the entire tournament as they clinched their second Red Bull Campus Cricket title by defeating Pakistan (University of Karachi) in the final by 5 wickets at ICC Academy in Dubai on 2nd November 2019. This is the third time that South Africa has won the Red Bull Campus Cricket title.

Earlier in the day, Pakistan won their play-off 3 game against Sri Lanka by 9 runs to qualify for the World Finals of Red Bull Campus Cricket 2019. In the high-pressure finals, Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat first. This decision, however, proved costly for the Pakistan Team as a magnificent spell from Ruan de Swart (5-12 in 3.5 overs) ripped through the Pakistani batting order restricting them to a meagre 100 runs in 15.5 overs.

Ruan de Swart got great support from Ruben Trumplemann as he picked up 2 wickets as well. The only bright spot for Pakistan with the bat was opening batsman Shahzar Hazzar as he scored 43 off 25 balls which included 7 fours and 1 six.

Chasing a low score of 101 in the final, South Africa got off to a shaky start as they lost quick wickets early on. It was the partnership of Jandre Pretorius and Aron Visser that took South Africa past the finishing line and helped them clinch the Red Bull Campus Cricket World title for the second time.

Match Scorecard:

Pakistan (University of Karachi): 100 all out (15.5 overs) (Shahzar Hazzar 43; Ruan de Swart 5-12 in 3.5 overs)

South Africa (University of Pretoria): 101/5 (15.5 overs) (Jandre Pretorious 36, Aron Visser 36; Mahmood Ali 2-14 in 3 overs)

Final result: University of Pretoria won the Red Bull Campus Cricket World Final 2019

Francois van Heerden, the winning captain of South Africa after winning, said:” We are ecstatic to win the Red Bull Campus Cricket World Final 2019, we have played some excellent cricket throughout the tournament and winning the tournament by being unbeaten shows the quality we have in the squad. It was a great final and we are happy to end up on the winning team. Red Bull Campus Cricket is a big stepping stone for many of us as it is a great platform for young and budding cricketers.

India (DAV College Chandigarh) also had an excellent Red Bull Campus Cricket World Final as they qualified for playoff 2 where they were edged out by Pakistan (University of Karachi). Despite their exit, India found great potential with key players like Treykash Bali (199 runs in the tournament) and Pankaj Sharma (9 wickets) stood out with the bat and ball respectively. Treykash Bali who has been played Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy was the second-highest scorer in the tournament with 199 runs, while Pankaj Sharma was the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 9 wickets.

Results:

Playoff 1: South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 41 runs

Playoff 2: Pakistan beat India by 4 wickets

Playoff 3: Pakistan beat Sri Lanka 9 runs

Final: South Africa beat Pakistan by 5 wickets to be crowned Red Bull Campus Cricket 2019 winners