Zimbabwe umpire Langton Rusere flew the country's flag high officiating in the final of the ICC Men's Under-19 World Cup between Australia and India in Benoni, South Africa yesterday.

It was his first appearance in the Under-19 World Cup final.

The 38-year-old Rusere stood with Allahudien Paleker of South Africa as Australia cruised to a 79-run victory for their fourth title. It was Rusere's seventh match at the 2024 tournament, the fourth involving India, and the second successive match for Australia after their nail-biting semi-final against Pakistan last Thursday.

Rusere has been growing in stature as an international umpire after his debut in July 2015, a T20I match between Zimbabwe and India in Harare.

In 2016, he was one of the on-field officials at the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh and went on to officiate at the ICC Women's World Cup 2017, staged in England.

In November 2018, he umpired the Women's World T20 final between Australia and England, in Antigua, having also stood in the semi-final between Australia and West Indies at the same venue.

It was a historic appearance as Rusere became the first Zimbabwean umpire to stand in the final of a major global cricket tournament.

In February 2020, Rusere was appointed as an overseas umpire for the three-match q series between New Zealand and India.

In 2021, he became the first Black African to stand in a Test match, standing with South Africa's Marais Erasmus, as one of the on-field umpires for the first Test between Zimbabwe and Pakistan at Harare Sports Club.