Harare: England U19 captain Thomas Rew is determined to treat the 2026 ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup final as “just another game” when his side take on India in Harare.
England have not won the tournament since 1998, the closest they came was four years ago when they were beaten in the final by their opponents on Friday.
Rew’s brilliant century was key to his side’s 27-run victory over Australia in a thrilling semi-final on Tuesday, taking his tournament tally to 299 runs at 74.75.
He praised his senior colleagues for laying the foundations during England’s unbeaten tournament – Ben Mayes impressed with 399 runs at just under 80 – and believes his side have what it takes to clear the final hurdle.
“It means a lot,” he said. “We came into this tournament with one goal and now there is one game left.
“We all dreamed of winning this World Cup but we have to look at it like another cricket match.
“It helps batting with our top order, every single person puts pressure back on the bowler and that takes the pressure off you. All the credit goes to them.”
“The communication within the team has been good and I’m just trying to play some strong shots and hope for the best.”
England’s bowling attack was key to their success. Nobody has more wickets in the competition than Manny Lumsden, whose 15 wickets came at less than 12 runs apiece, while Ralphie Albert and Sebastian Morgan also made valuable contributions.
Looking back on the successful defense of 277 against Australia, Rew added: “It’s always nice to bat first on a wicket that’s going down.”
“It wasn’t as bad as before, but we used it to our advantage with the ball, we hit forward with hard shots.
“Our bowlers did that throughout the tournament and that’s why we did really well.”
India were beaten finalists two years ago after winning the 2022 tournament and their 2026 crop made it to the final undefeated.
Aaron George’s fantastic 115 led their successful chase of 311 against Afghanistan, while Vaibhav Sooryavanshi set the tone with a 33-ball 68.
Captain Ayush Mhatre, who contributed 62 points with four sixes, is looking forward to the occasion and urges his team, like his counterpart, to keep it simple and not be intimidated.
“England are a fantastic team who are playing really well in this tournament,” he said.
“We will play our natural game, play each ball on its merits and adapt to the conditions and the wicket. We will try to play simple cricket.”
“Against Afghanistan, for a long time we had a simple discussion about playing our natural game and batting.
“Vaibhav’s start was really important for us. He just took the pressure off and made it easier for us to build an innings.
“We had to look for ones and twos and find the boundary from loose balls. Nothing special, we just had to keep it simple.”
“Our bowlers were very good, Afghanistan fought very well. The bowlers have a lot to improve on and will try to do that.”
The ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2026 final between England and India begins at 09:30 local time at the Harare Sports Club.
