Under 19 world cup: Six players who stood out 

Ground Report| New Delhi: Under 19 world cup; The ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2022 is currently being held in the West Indies. It began on 14 January and ends today on  February five 2022. The 14th edition is being hosted by the West Indies, for the first time.  The England and India final will take place today at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua, West Indies. The Indian U19 team will be captained by Yash Dhull while on the other hand England U19 team will play under the captainship of Tom Prest. Australia bagged third place against Afghanistan in a playoff on Friday. 

For the past four editions of the world cup, the Indian team has always reached the final. Making the Indian squad the most favourite. Both the teams have a good line up which will make it interesting. It will be worth watching who lifts the trophy, as both the teams have remained unbeaten.

However, there were players who failed to reach the finale but left their mark in the tournament. Groundreprt.in tried to sum up the six best performers in the tournament. Both under the categories of highest scorers and highest wicket-takers. 

Highest Run Scorers 

The three highest-scoring batsmen who have the most number of runs to their credit in the tournament are:- 

1. Dewald Brevis: Also referred to as "Baby AB", Dewald Brevis was born on 29 April 2003 in South Africa. This 18-year-old is the highest scorer of the tournament. With a total score of 506 runs in six innings giving him an average of 84.33, Dewald Brevis impressed many. He showed his abilities with 65 runs against India when he also took two wickets as an off-spinner. Brevis scored two centuries, 104 against Uganda and 138 against Bangladesh. Whereas he scored 96 and 97 against Ireland and England respectively. With his performance, he won a lot of praise and many hearts. His only poor performance came against Sri Lanka in which he only scored six runs. However, with two centuries and three fifties to his credit, he managed to be the top scorer of the tournament.

This right-handed batsman made his T20 debut on October eight 2021, in the CSA Provincial T20 Knockout tournament. 

2. Haseebullah Khan: Following Brevis in the top scorers of the tournament is Haseebullah Khan who has a hefty 380 runs to his credit. Haseebullah was born in Pishin on April four 2004. He also is the current wicketkeeper of the U19 team. This 18-year-old wants to represent Pakistan in Test cricket. This left-handed youngster impressed many people with his performance. 

Haseebullah scored 136 and 135 against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe respectively. He scored 79 against Bangladesh. He scored 10, 18* and 2 runs against Australia, Papua New Guinea and Afghanistan respectively.  With two centuries and one fifty, he became the second-highest scorer of the tournament. He maintained an average of 76.00. 

3. Thomas James Prest: TJ Prest is an English cricketer. He was born in Wimborne, Dorset on March 24, 2003. He follows Haseebullah in the list as the third-highest scorer, with 292 runs to his credit. He has an average of 73.0. However, he still has the finale match left so it will be worth watching how he will do this time. This youngster is also the current skipper of the team.

He is a top-order batsman. He scored an unbeaten 154 against UAE. However the 18 years old, having five wickets to his credit, is also good with the ball. He made his T20 debut on 25 June 2021 in T20 Blast 2020. He was named as the captain of the team in December last year. With one century and two fifties, he is the third-highest scorer. He scored 93 and 91 against Canada and Papua New Guinea respectively. 

This young player has all eyes fixed on him for the U19 World Cup finale today. And is being termed as one of the key players for England today, which India will be looking forward to dismissing as soon as possible. 

Highest Wicket Takers 

The three players who left a mark in the field of bowling in this tournament. And have the most number of wickets to their credit are as follows:-

1. DN Wellalage: Dunith Nethmika Wellalage from Sri Lanka has the most number of wickets to his credit. He took a total of 17 wickets in the tournament, with an average of 13.58. Born on January nine 2003, he was also the skipper for Sri Lanka's team in ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup 2022. He took a five-wicket haul, twice.  He took five wickets against Australia and Scotland both. He took three wickets against Afghanistan, West Indies and Pakistan. He also took four wickets against Uganda. He also scored a century against South Africa, to put Sri Lanka in fifth place. He won two Man of the match titles in the tournament. He became the first Sri Lankan captain to score a century in the U19 world cup. 

2. Awais Ali: Following Wellalage is Pakistani right-arm medium bowler Awais Ali. Born in Sialkot on December 29, 2005, this 16-year-old has a total of 15 wickets to his name. He took six wickets against Zimbabwe. He took three wickets each against Bangladesh and Afghanistan both. He also took two wickets against Australia and Canada, and one against Sri Lanka. He maintained his average at 15.80, with an economy rate of 4.67. He made his national debut in the U-19 arena in the youth Asia Cup which was held in UAE. With his unique bowling style, he has impressed a lot of people. He impressed the selection committee through his Asia Cup performance.  Just like Haseebullah, Awais also has this dream of representing Pakistan on an international platform. 

3. R Mondol: The third highest wicket-taker is Bangladeshi player Ripon Mondol. The 18 years old right-armed bowler was born on March 21, 2003. He took four wickets each against India and Canada. He also took three wickets against UAE and Kuwait. He took two wickets against South Africa. And also one wicket each against England and Zimbabwe.  With an economy of 4.22, he maintained an average of 15. This young bowler also impressed people with his performance. 

However, India's Vicky Ostwal has all hopes hooked upon him for today's match. With a total of 12 wickets at an average of 10.7.5,  to his credit till now, it will be interesting to watch what this 19-year-old player has in-store for the fans in the finale. Maybe he surpasses the number of highest wickets taken, you never know. 

Besides Vicky, in the finale fans are looking forward to watching Indian opener Angkrish Raghuvanshi, England Skipper Tom Prest, Indian all-rounder Raj Angad Bawa, English left-arm pacer Joshua Boyden and English wrist-spinner Rehan Ahmed. It is however a matter of time to see how these teenagers perform.

The final match will start at 6:30 pm this evening. 

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