India U19 prevailed in a closely-fought youth first-class match in Chennai, beating Australia U19 by two wickets to narrowly win the game inside three days.
A counter-attacking fifty from India U19 No.7 Nikhil Kumar helped them get over the line, after they had slipped to 167-7 in pursuit of 212. Australia U19's Aidan O Connor, coupled with first-innings hero Vishwa Ramkumar, shared seven wickets between them, but couldn't prevent Nikhil from finishing unbeaten on 55* and hitting the winning runs.
Before Nikhil, the Chattisgarh all-rounder, it was Nitya Pandya's 86-ball 51 that set the ball rolling; he stitched together a 71-run stand with Karthikeya KP, but two wickets pushed them down from 113-3 to 113-5, and later from 162-5 to 167-7. Nikhil carried them to the target with the help of three fours and four sixes.
Earlier, it was Mohammad Enaan's sensational spell that turned things around for India. At the end of day two, Australia looked comfortably placed at 110-4, a lead of 107, but things changed considerably on the third morning. They managed to add only 104 runs to their overnight score, losing all six wickets, as Enaan finished with figures of 23-4-79-6 to bring India right back into the game.
It took Enaan's match tally to nine wickets, having been the best of the lot in the first innings too.
The chase oscillated dramatically as wickets fell, but Nikhil and No.9 Samarth Nagaraj kept them in the hunt, with a six each from both of them tilting the game in India's favour in what turned out to be the penultimate over.
The top-scorer across the four innings was 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who made headlines with his 58-ball hundred on the second day, the fastest in youth Tests by an Indian.
The two teams will play the second game of the two-match series at the same venue starting October 7.
India U19 v Australia U19 brief scores
India U19 296 (V Suryavanshi 104, V Rajkumar 4-79) & 214-8 (N Kumar 55*, A O'Connor 4-27) beat Australia U19 293 (R Kingsley 53, M Enaan 3-48) & 214 (R Kingsley 48, M Enaan 6-79).
You can check the complete scorecard here.
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