Vaibhav Suryavanshi causes carnage, smashes 10 sixes in blistering knock vs South Africa U19

Vaibhav Suryavanshi continued his red-hot form and delivered in India U19's second youth ODI against South Africa U19. The 14-year-old, who was appointed the side's captain ahead of the series played a terrific knock of 68 runs from just 24 deliveries. He proved to be a nightmare for the opposing bowlers and smashed a bounbdary and 10 towering sixes in his innings.

South Africa had earlier been bundled out for 245 runs as the visitors put in a solid bowling display. In reply, Suryavanshi ensured that the team got off to a blistering start and didn't waste any time in hitting sixes. He eventually ended up reaching his half-century after facing just 15 deliveries as the South African bowling attack failed to restrict the run-flow.

Suryavanshi's outrageous knock

Suryavanshi was eventually dismissed after scoring 68 runs from just 24 deliveries. He smashed a total of 10 maximums, maintaining a strike-rate of 283.33. He laid a strong foundation for the run-chase of 246 and now it remains to be seen if the rest of the Indian batters will be able to take the side home or not.

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Meanwhile, India are competing against South Africa in a three-match youth ODI series ahead of the U19 World Cup which commences from January 15 in Zimbabwe and Namibia. The Men in Blue won the first game comfortably by 25 runs (DLS method). They will go on to seal the series if they come out victorious in the second match.

Mhatre and Malhotra expected to return

India have already announced their squad for the U19 World Cup. While skipper Ayush Mhatre and his deputy Vihaan Malhotra are both absent for the ongoing South Africa series due to wrist injuries, they are expected to make their returns in the major tournament and thus, have been picked in the squad.

India's squad for 2026 U19 World Cup: Ayush Mhatre (c), R.S. Ambrish, Kanishk Chouhan, D. Deepesh, Mohamed Enaan, Aaron George, Abhigyan Kundu, Kishan Kumar Singh, Vihaan Malhotra, Udhav Mohan, Henil Patel, Khilan A. Patel, Harvansh Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Vedant Trivedi