No side has achieved as many laurels in international cricket as Australia. In the 2010 edition of the Under-19 World Cup, Australia stamped their dominance at the youth level, becoming the first team to lay hands on the trophy for a record third time.
The 2010 edition was initially supposed to be held in Kenya. In June 2009, ICC’s inspection revealed that the preparations were not up to the mark. The venue was shifted to New Zealand, who had hosted the event in 2002.
The matches were played across various venues in Christchurch, Napier, Palmerston North and Queenstown.
England and defending champions India qualified from Group A. Ben Stokes’ century helped England win the top-of-the-table clash. South Africa beat Australia in a close contest to top Group B, hosts New Zealand and Sri Lanka qualified from Group C, and Pakistan and West Indies from Group D.
Fifteen-year-old Babar Azam scored the tournament's first century that saw Pakistan beat West Indies. Kraigg Brathwaite had kept West Indies in the hunt before running out of his partners.
India and Pakistan clashed in the quarter-final. In a rain-affected 23-over match, Fayyaz Butt’s four wickets restricted India to 114, and Pakistan won by two wickets with three balls to spare. Mayank Agarwal and K.L. Rahul opened batting for India, and Babar and Ahmed Shehzad for Pakistan. Rahul fell first ball, and none of the others managed to reach double figures.
Jason Holder’s five-wicket haul against England helped the West Indies sail to the semi-final, while captain Mitchell Marsh (53) and Josh Hazlewood (2-24) saw Australia win the Trans-Tasman quarter-final against New Zealand. In the fourth semi-final, Bhanuka Rajapaksa powered Sri Lanka to a win over South Africa.
In the first semi-final, Pakistan were reduced to 49/4 in the 20th against West Indies when chasing 213. However, a counterattacking 93-ball 92 not out from Hammad Azam saw Pakistan through.
Marsh (97) and Hazlewood (4-26) combined yet again to clinch a thriller against Sri Lanka in the second semi-final.
In the final, Pakistan produced a good bowling show to restrict Australia to 207. Babar (28) started well and good support from Shehzad (36), already an international player for Pakistan. Captain Azeem Ghumman (41) also kept them in the hunt before Hazlewood made inroads. He picked four wickets and put up a Player-of-the-Match performance to bowl out Pakistan for 182.
Eventually, after three editions, the Asian dominance came to a halt. Australia, the then ODI World Champions, also won the Under-19 World Cup for a record third time.
South Africa’s Dominic Hendricks was named Player of the Tournament for his 391 runs at 97.8, breaching the 50-mark four times in six innings. Unfortunately, he could not make a name for himself in international cricket.
Bangladesh won the Plate Final after crushing Ireland by 195 runs.
Semi-final 1: West Indies 212/8 in 50 overs (Kraigg Brathwaite 85; Sarmad Bhatti 2-37) lost to Pakistan 213/6 in 48.3 overs (Hammad Azam 92*; Jason Holder 2-28) by 4 wickets with 9 balls remaining.
Semi-final 2: Sri Lanka 205 in 48.2 overs (Akshu Fernando 52; Josh Hazlewood 4-26) lost to Australia 206/8 in 48.3 overs (Mitchell Marsh 97; Charith Jayampathi 3-34) by 2 wickets with 9 balls remaining.
Final: Australia 207/9 in 50 overs (Kane Richardson 44; Sarmad Bhatti 3-33) beat Pakistan 182 in 46.4 overs (Azeem Ghumman 41; Josh Hazlewood 4-30) by 25 runs.
Most runs: Dominic Hendricks (South Africa, 391), Kraigg Brathwaite (West Indies, 335), Babar Azam (Pakistan, 298)
Most wickets: Raymon Haoda (Papua New Guinea, 15), Chathura Peiris (Sri Lanka, 13), Josh Hazlewood (Australia, 13), Graham Hume (South Africa, 13), Nathan Buck (England, 13)
Player of the Tournament: Dominic Hendricks.
Future stars:
Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi
Australia: Mitchell Marsh, Josh Hazlewood, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa
Bangladesh: Anamul Haque, Sabbir Rahman
England: James Vince, Jos Buttler, Joe Root, Ben Stokes
Hong Kong: Jamie Atkinson, Mark Chapman (Hong Kong and New Zealand Seniors)
India: K.L. Rahul, Mayank Agarwal
Ireland: Andy Balbirnie, George Dockrell, Paul Stirling
New Zealand: Corey Anderson, Tom Blundell, Tom Latham, Jimmy Neesham, Logan van Beek (Netherlands Seniors)
Pakistan: Ahmed Shehzad, Babar Azam
Papua New Guinea: Tony Ura, Charles Amini
Sri Lanka: Bhanuka Rajapaksa
West Indies: Jermaine Blackwood, Kraigg Brathwaite, John Campbell, Shane Dowrich, Jason Holder, Evin Lewis
Zimbabwe: Peter Moor, Tinotenda Mutombodzi