ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2022: India Win Fifth Title by 4 Wickets — Raj Bawa's 5/31 Best Figures in U19 WC Final History

India U19 won the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2022 on 5 February 2022 at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua and Barbuda, defeating England U19 by 4 wickets with 14 balls remaining. England scored 189 all out in 50 overs — James Rew top-scoring with 95, but Raj Bawa's 5/31 and Ravi Kumar's 3/34 restricting the innings. India chased 195/6 in 47.4 overs — Shaik Rasheed (50) and Nishant Sindhu (50) rebuilding after early wickets, Raj Bawa contributing 35 in the chase. Raj Bawa won Player of the Match with his 5/31 — the best bowling figures in any U19 World Cup final in competition history. Yash Dhull captained India; Tom Prest captained England. Dewald Brevis (South Africa) won Player of the Tournament with 506 runs — a competition record.

Raj Bawa 5/31: The Best Bowling Figures in Any U19 WC Final

Raj Bawa's 5/31 — the best bowling figures recorded in any ICC Under-19 World Cup final in the competition's history — gave India's 4-wicket win over England its most significant individual cricket performance. Bawa, the India U19 right-arm medium-pace bowling all-rounder, first restricted England to 189 all out (James Rew's 95 notwithstanding) through a five-wicket performance that broke the back of England's batting order, then contributed 35 runs in India's 195/6 chase. The dual all-round contribution — 5/31 with the ball and 35 with the bat in the same final — gave Bawa's Player of the Match award the completeness that T20 and 50-over cricket's all-round format rewards. India's 4-wicket win in 47.4 overs — completing the chase with 14 balls unused — reflected a final where England's 189 was competitive but not ultimately enough against India's batting depth.

Dewald Brevis 506 Runs: A Competition Record from the Non-Finalist

Dewald Brevis winning Player of the Tournament at the 2022 ICC U19 World Cup with 506 runs — a record tally for a single U19 World Cup edition — from the South Africa U19 team (which did not reach the final) gave the tournament's top individual award the pattern that the Asia Cup 2012 T20 WC reproduced: the competition's most prolific scorer or wicket-taker from a non-finalist team winning the tournament's standout individual performance award. Brevis, who would go on to represent multiple T20 franchise competitions (IPL, BBL) as one of cricket's most highly regarded teenage batting talents, producing 506 runs in the 2022 U19 World Cup in the West Indies gave the South Africa batter a record-breaking tournament across group-stage and knockout matches — without his team reaching the final that India and England contested in Antigua.

ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2022 in Context

The ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2022 — held in the West Indies in January-February 2022 — was the 15th edition of the competition (which had run since 1988). India's 4-wicket win over England — Raj Bawa's 5/31 the best final bowling figures in U19 WC history, Rasheed and Sindhu half-centuries completing the chase — gave India's fifth U19 championship its distinctive bowling-all-round final performance. England reaching the 2022 U19 World Cup final reflected the quality of the England age-group system that had developed James Rew (95 in the final) and Tom Prest's squad, but India's batting depth — rebuilt from multiple wicket-loss positions across the knockout rounds — completing the 195/6 chase confirmed why India have produced the competition's most sustained dominance across its entire history.