India, Feb. 6 -- The thing about prodigies is that people treat them like a promise. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi treated a World Cup final like a deadline. His epic knock wasn't just a pile of runs - it was a speed-run through the U19 record book, delivered under the kind of pressure that usually turns teenagers into timid adults.

Finals are supposed to tighten you up. The first few overs are meant to be about "seeing off" the shine, about not giving away your wicket to adrenaline. Vaibhav did the opposite: he made the final see him off. England's plans lasted a couple of overs; then they began to look like guesses. Fields shifted, lengths changed, bowlers rotated - and none of it mattered, because the innings had a very simple message: if you ...