India U-19 cricket won the warm-up match against Australia U-19 team, played at the Providence Stadium, in Guyana, in a convincing fashion after the Yash Dhull-led side secured victory by 9 wickets.
After winning the toss, the Indian team decided to send their opponents to bat first. The decision seemed to have paid off initially as within just six overs the Indian bowling unit managed to send Australia batsman back to the pavilion.
Not a good start
Both the Aussie opening batsmen- Teague Wyllie (4 runs) and Corey Miller (8 runs)- failed to give a solid start to their batting.
Then came skipper Cooper Connolly to bat at number three and played a solid knock off 117 off 125 deliveries to register a defendable total of 268 against the Indian team. Connolly’s innings was comprised of 14 boundaries and 4 sixes.
The 18-year-old skipper was eventually dismissed by Indian medium pacer Raj Bawa. The Aussie skipper was dismissed on the last ball of the 46th over after Bawa took the catch off his own delivery to provide a crucial breakthrough.
Connolly’s ton could have helped his side in crossing the 300-run mark but sadly the skipper did not get any fruitful from the other side of the crease. Aidan Cahill (27 off 27 balls) and William Salzmann (25 off 29 deliveries) were the other two batsmen who contributed somehow to post a respectable total on the board.
India’s left-arm pacer Ravi Kumar was the best performer with the ball after the 18-year-old bowler picked up four wickets for his side. His partner Rajvardhan Hangargekar, right-arm medium pacer, on the other hand, scalped three wickets.
Solid reply
In reply, the Indian batting unit never looked to be in trouble and from the very first ball seemed the favourites to win the contest.
Both the Indian openers looked determined to secure the victory for their side. Opening batsman Harnoor Singh scored a century (100 off 1088 deliveries).
Another opener, Angkrish Raghuvanshi scored 27 off 46 balls to provide a good start. Shaik Rasheed (72 off 74 balls) and skipper Yash Dhull (50 off 47 balls) played a formidable partnership to register a nine-wicket victory for the Indian team.
The Yash Dhull-led side will start their ICC U-19 World Cup campaign on January 15 against South Africa.
