Ollie Peake's hobbling and defiant captain's knock of 100 has proved too little too late to rescue Australia as their reign as under-19 World Cup champions was ended by England in a compelling semi-final in Zimbabwe.
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Peake's unbeaten World Cup class of 2026 eventually met their match against England's talented teens in their 'junior Ashes' showdown in Bulawayo, with the Aussie skipper's counterpart Thomas Rew outdoing him by also scoring a memorable 110 in their 27-run victory.
But though outclassed for much of the match at Queens Sports Club, a monumental late charge from young Melbourne Renegades star Peake looked momentarily as if it might push Australia to the most unlikely victory.
Squeezed by fine English bowling and fielding to the point of needing 54 off 30 balls with only two wickets standing, the Australian captain Peake delivered his solo tour de force.
He first swivelled to pull England's star quick Manny Lumsden for six first ball, with his leg seemingly cramping up in the process, before he then cracked the next four balls for boundaries to amass 22 off the over.
At the other end, tailender Charles Lachmund was then bowled by Sebastian Morgan, leaving Australia down to their last pair, as Peake, by now struggling even to walk properly, limped his way to the single that took him to a magnificent century off 85 balls.
The ailing 19-year-old skipper then needed treatment for cramping in his arm as well as his leg, and slashed a wide ball wearily straight to point, leaving Australia all out for 250, in reply to England's 7-277.
"I am better physically now, but very disappointed with the result," sighed Peake after his second successive century proved not enough.
"Sometimes, you are just outplayed, and it was one of those days. To their credit, Rew and his partner (Caleb Falconer, 40 off 53 balls) were batting really well through the middle, and they probably showed us the way to do it."
Australia paid the price for a slow start in their reply, with opener Nitesh Samuel eventually getting stumped after he'd chewed up 83 balls to reach 47 on what was, admittedly, not the easiest batting surface.
Peake and the lively bejewelled spinning allrounder Aryan Sharma, who's known to his teammates as 'Bling', tried to wrest back the initiative with a sparkling partnership but Sharma was eventually caught in the deep for 34 off his 23 balls off English spinner Farhan Ahmed.
Along with his fellow tweaker Ralphie Albert, Ahmed (1-45) did well in checking the Australian bid to get the required run-rate back to more manageable levels.
But Australia will also look back on their frustrating opening when star left-hander Will Malajczuk (15 off 12) got pinned lbw by a toe-crunching yorker from left-arm quick Alex French.
Then Steven Hogan, Australia's other centurion earlier in the tournament, struggled for 23 balls for just three before he departed to James Minto (2-30), who picked up a couple of wickets, like teammates Lumsden (2-55), Morgan (2-33) and Albert (2-45).
After England opted to bat on a slower surface which deteriorated during the reply, Australia's much-vaunted pace attack didn't have the impact they'd enjoyed earlier in the tournament with only Hayden Schiller shining with his 2-31 off eight overs.
Legspinner Naden Cooray (2-49) was again impressive, his wiles ensuring England didn't cash in late on Somerset prospect Rew's 97-ball century.
It was a disappointing end for the young Aussies, who, like England, had gone unbeaten in the five matches leading into the semi-final.
"The boys will take heaps away. I saw incredible improvement from when we got here to now, and I'm really, really proud of everyone, it's been a great group," said Peake.
"Bit of a foreign feeling, losing, but if there was a way to go out, this is probably the way."
Australian Associated Press
