Two local players from Pretoria were the outstanding heroes in the final of the ICC under 19 World Cup 2014 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Saturday when the young South Africans beat Pakistan by six wickets to become world champions. Corbin Bosch first terrorized the batting of Pakistan when he took four wickets for only 15 runs in their innings and then Aiden Markram, the South African captain and opening batsman, helped his team to pass the Pakistanis’ total in the 43th over with an excellent unbeaten innings of 66 runs. Bosch was named man of the match in the final, while Markram received the honour of being named man of the series. Although Markram scored the third most runs in the tournament, he was the only player to score two centuries during this tournament. The other local player in the team, Driaan Bruwer, did not get a chance to bat in the final. South Africa won their group stage easily by beating the West Indies, Zimbabwe and Canada. They then went on to beat Afghanistan in the quarter-final and Australia in the semi-final. With their undefeated record and excellent attacking cricket, South Africa was one of the favourites from the beginning. Pakistan was a major threat, but when Bosch and his bowling mates restricted them to only 131 runs, the writing was on the wall for the Pakistanis. Bosch is the son of the late Tertius Bosch, who played for the then Northern Transvaal in the eighties and early nineties and for South Africa during the country’s first participation in a senior World Cup in 1992. Bosch Senior was a dentist and he studied at the University of Pretoria when he played cricket for the Northern Transvaal. He later moved to Durban, where he practiced as a dentist, but he died in 2000 after he was diagnosed with Guillain–Barré Syndrome. Corbin Bosch joined the cricket academy at the University of Pretoria last year. He also plays for the Northern Cricket Union’s u.19 team and Saturday’s final in the under 19 World Cup was his tenth in the colours of the national under 19 team. Just like his late father, he is a fast-medium seamer. Aiden Markram was born and bred in Pretoria. He comes from Centurion, but attended Pretoria Boys High. He is also a member of the Northerns Cricket Union’s u.19 team and he is regarded as a future star batsman for the Titans. His selection as captain of the South African u.19 team for this tournament was quite a surprise, but eventually he led his side by example and with distinction. The coach of the South African u.19 team, Ray Jennings, also played for the Northern Transvaal at the end of his cricket career in the early nineties. He is regarded as one of the best wicket-keepers that the country ever produced. He also achieved big success as a coach after his playing days.