SA Quadrangular U19 Series, 2020: Final, South Africa Under-19s vs India Under-19s – Dhruv Jurel's record ton, India's consistency in tournaments, Tilak-Dhruv's rescue act and more stats

India Under-19s finished the U19 Quadrangular series unbeaten and clinched the title with a comfortable win in the final against South Africa. India got off to the worst of starts losing three big wickets with just 13 runs on the board. However, Tilak Varma carried his batting form in the tour with a solid knock while keeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel took aggressive way. The duo shared a 164-run stand from 190 balls before Tilak got out scoring 70.

Jurel carried on to score 101 from 115 deliveries with 10 boundaries. Siddesh Veer’s unbeaten 37-ball 48 helped India to finish on 259/7 in 50 overs. The hosts got off to a quick-fire start in the chase as they were 58/1 in 8.1 overs before falling apart due to regular wickets. Atharva Ankolekar took four wickets as South Africa U19s were bowled out for only 190.

All the statistical highlights from India’s big win in the final of the Quadrangular series:

1 – Dhruv Jurel became the first Indian wicket-keeper to score a hundred in a Youth ODI final. Overall, Jurel is only the 3rd keeper to score a Youth ODI hundred in a tournament final. Quinton de Kock scored 146 in the 2012 U19 Tri-series final at home against Pakistan while Ikram Alikhil finished unbeaten on 107 also against Pakistan in the 2017 U19 Asia Cup final.

3/13 – India lost their 3rd wicket at the score of 13; the 2nd lowest score from which a team ended up winning a Youth ODI final. They won the last year’s Youth Asia Cup final from being 3 down for 8 runs while batting first against Bangladesh in Colombo.

24-9 – India Under-19s won 24 of the 33 multi-nation tournaments they featured in the Youth ODI cricket. Excluding the U19 CWCs, their record goes up to 20-1 which includes the 2012 Youth Asia Cup that they shared with Pakistan after a Tied final.

The 2017 edition of Youth Asia Cup was the only tournament outside CWC which the India U19s failed to win/share. India is also the most successful team in U19 World Cup as they won four of the 12 editions.

164 – The partnership of 164 between Tilak Varma and Dhruv Jurel is the 5th highest for the 4th wicket in Youth ODIs. This is also the 2nd highest stand for 4th or lower wicket in Youth ODIs for India behind the 170-run partnership between Ricky Bhui and Shreyas Iyer also for 4th wicket against Australia in 2013.

164 – The 164-run stand between Tilak and Dhruv is also the 3rd highest partnership by any pair in a Youth ODI final. Sanju Samson and Vijay Zol added 180 for 3rd wicket in 2014 U19 Asia Cup final while Unmukt Chand and Baba Aparajith shared a 175-run partnership for the 2nd wicket in the 2012 U19 Asia Cup final; both the instances came against Pakistan.

164 – No 3rd or lower wicket partnership in Youth ODI cricket that began when the team’s total was less than 30 is as high as 164 by Tilak and Dhruv. Pakistan pair of Hasan Mohsin and Saif Badar added 189 against Nepal in the U19 CWC match also for the 4th wicket after they were 30/3.

181, 4, 4 – Tilak Varma was player of the tournament for his 181 runs, 4 wickets and 4 catches in this competition. As many as seven players including Tilak has scored 150+ runs, picked 4+ wickets and took 4+ catches in a Youth ODI series/tournament for India Under-19s.

Only two Indian players achieved this all-round treble in a tournament other than the U19 World Cup. Virat Kohli scored 195 runs, picked 5 wickets and took 6 catches across five matches during the 2008 U19 Tri-series also hosted by South Africa.

4/31 – Atharva Ankolekar became only the 2nd Indian spinner to take a 4-wicket haul in a Youth ODI on South African soil. Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 4/13 in the 2nd game of the bilateral series before this tournament was the first 4-fer by an Indian spin bowler in South Africa. Only left-arm pacer Saurabh Netravalkar had better bowling figures (5/26 vs SL in 2010 Johannesburg) than Jaiswal and Ankolekar in a Youth ODI in South Africa.