India win toss, opt to bat first against England in Under-19 World Cup 2026 final

Harare [Zimbabwe], February 6 (ANI): India Under-19 captain Ayush Mhatre won the toss and opted to bat first against England Under-19 in the ICC Under-19 World Cup 2026 final on Friday at the Harare Sports Club, Harare.
Ayush Mhatre and his team are aiming for a sixth Under-19 World Cup title, having last won the tournament in 2022. Notably, this is India's 10th appearance in the Under-19 World Cup finals.
Thomas Rew's England side, meanwhile, are seeking their second Under-19 World Cup triumph, with their only previous victory dating back 28 years to 1998. For England, this is their third U19 World Cup final appearance
Both India and England have been undefeated in the tournament so far. While India defeated Asian counterparts Afghanistan by seven wickets in the semifinal, England outdid arch-rivals and the second-most successful team at the tournament-Australia-by 27 runs in the semis.
India recorded the highest-ever successful run chase in the history of the U19 World Cup by hunting down the target of 311 runs in the semifinal against Afghanistan. Aaron George's 115-run knock and fifties from Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and skipper Ayush Mhatre did the job for the Men in Blue.
England, on the other hand, defeated Australia by 27 runs. Captain Thomas Rew played the match-defining innings of 110 runs in the first innings before his bowlers did the job and stopped Australia captain Oliver Peake (100 runs off 888 balls) from running away with the game.
India Under-19 vs England Under-19 World Cup 2026 final playing 11s:
India U19 playing 11: Aaron George, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ayush Mhatre(c), Vihaan Malhotra, Vedant Trivedi, Abhigyan Kundu(w), RS Ambrish, Kanishk Chouhan, Khilan Patel, Henil Patel, Deepesh Devendran.
England U19 playing 11: Ben Dawkins, Joseph Moores, Ben Mayes, Thomas Rew(w/c), Caleb Falconer, Ralphie Albert, Farhan Ahmed, Sebastian Morgan, James Minto, Manny Lumsden, Alex Green. (ANI)