Despite 1988 and 2002 winners posting 319 for 8 - the third biggest total of the competition - they are forced to settle for sixth after their group-stage defeat
"Update from Benoni!" read the ICC's Cricket World Cup Twitter page, by now the only means of discovering what would become of the fifth-place playoff between West Indies and Australia.
Such an exclamation would surely be followed by a morsel of encouragement or a crumb of comfort. Alas, it was merely to confirm that with the outfield looking increasingly like a flood plain and more rain on the way, that the match had been abandoned.
The record books will recount that West Indies finished fifth in this World Cup by virtue of having qualified from the group stage above Australia.
Not that either side knew it at the time, but the nervy three-wicket win the Windies claimed in Kimberley all the way back on January 18 was to decide two of the placings in the competition.
The contest, which saw Australia bowled out for 179 in 35.4 overs and then reduce West Indies to 92 for 5, was one of the best of the group stage and arguably the whole tournament. Anything involving India on the other side of the draw has had the feeling of a cake-walk.
Despite what was on the line, this match was more eagerly anticipated given that first clash. Australia came to the party with the bat, hitting 319 for 8 from their full allocation.
The top seven all reached double figures, with three going on to half-centuries. It was the third-highest score of the competition and 32nd best in history.
West Indies had begun the reply cautiously, but the final 12 balls before the rain came yielded 25 runs, including a booming six from Kimani Melius. He found the man at cover via the final ball of the day, but their intentions were clear.
It was just a shame we never got to find out what they would amount to.
'Run a rope over it, we'll be back on in five...'#U19CWCpic.twitter.com/5MbxT38PKG
— The Cricketer (@TheCricketerMag) February 7, 2020
One of the joys of this competition has been watching the West Indies bowling battery operate. Jayden Seales and Nyeem Young have dovetailed well with spinners Matthew Patrick and Ashmead Nedd throughout the competition. The quartet have taken 37 wickets between them.
But it would be fair to say that they had run out of steam by the time they rocked up for this contest, which for some was their sixth game in the space of 21 days.
It is a schedule that looked like too much for their young legs. There was a lack of intensity and bite in the display. Granted, fluctuating performances are to be expected for players at this age and stage of their careers and this was very much an educational process.
Seales and Patrick were the most economical but the rest were routinely punished by Australia's top order. Nedd finished with 1-59. Ramon Simmonds and Joshua James went for 44 and 53 respectively from just six overs each. Young was battered for eight fours and two sixes as he conceded 70 from eight.
Three wickets fell late on as Australia looked to push on towards an even greater total, but even those breakthroughs couldn't detract from the pumping the bowling attack took.
Rain ruined what should have been an intriguing contest
Australia handed just a second appearance of the competition to Cooper Connolly, who came in at No.6. Aged just 16 years and 169 days, he is the youngest member of the two-time winners' squad and will even be eligible for the next edition of the competition in 2022 in the West Indies.
Coming in at 174 for 4, the Australia innings could still have gone one of two ways. But the teenager ensured he turned a solid base into an impressive total with an enterprising innings. Even in this age-capped event, it was a performance far beyond his years.
Connolly smashed 64 from 53 balls, including six fours and two sixes. While the first maximum was struck over long-off, the second was a fabulous hit through deep mid-wicket, having waltzed down the track to Nedd.
He and Lachlan Hearne, who had been run-out off the boot of James in the first meeting, put on 101 for the fifth wicket in 92 balls. It was a quite stunning display that ensures that while rain ended any hope of ending the competition on a winning note, there was at least one positive for Australia to take from it.
You don't get picked up by Australia's developmental pathway at such a tender age unless you have something about you. Connolly has made great strides already in his career, catching the eye during the Under-17 National Championships.
He captained Western Australia to victory, scooping the player of the match in the final and the player of the tournament prize having cracked 264 runs at 66 and taken 14 wickets at 13.71. It was a truly mesmeric performance.
Ashmead Nedd had a disappointing end to the competition
Those showings earned him a place in Cricket Australia's Pathways Rookie Squad for players aged between 15 and 17, a group that will benefit from tailored programs to enhance their development.
Selected in a CA XI for the Australian Under-19 Championships he again performed above his level, scoring 369 runs at 67.1. Only three players accumulated more runs in the tournament, while his left-arm spin brought him eight wickets.
Under-19 World Cups have proven in the past to be false dawns for hundreds of players, yet platforms for some of the very best. Connolly has plenty of ground to cover before he can dream of representing the senior team, but there is little doubt the left-hander has all the tools to make a success of his fledgling youth career.
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