India's U19 side put up a superb fightback to secure a win over Australia in Puducherry and sweep their bilateral ODI series 3-0.
Coming into this match, India had already triumphed at the same venue on September 21 and September 23, by seven wickets and nine wickets respectively. This time, they were put in to bat by Aussie captain Oliver Peake.
India lost last-match centurion Sahil Parakh in the sixth over, but fellow opener Rudra Patel (77) then put on 112 with wicketkeeper Harvansh Pangalia (46), before the pair were dismissed within six overs of each other.
Skipper Mohammad Amaan had come to the crease in the 23rd over, and anchored the innings even as wickets fell around him. He was eventually the seventh to fall, in the 48th over for a brisk 71 off 72 balls.
Useful knocks down the order from Hardik Raj (30* off 18 balls) and Chetan Sharma (18 off 9 balls) helped propel the hosts to a competitive 324-8. For Australia, pacer Aidan O'Connor took four wickets, but proved the most expensive in the innings as he conceded 84 runs in his 10 overs.
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In the second innings, India struck a couple of quick blows as openers Zac Curtain and Simon Budge were sent back to the pavilion within 15 overs, with the score reading 61-2.
But it was at that point that skipper Peake put on 180 for the third wicket with Steven Hogan, putting Australia firmly in the driver's seat. Hogan was dimissed by Hardik for an 84-ball 104 in the 41st over, and when he departed Australia needed 84 runs from 56 balls, with seven wickets in hand.
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This was by no means an easy ask, but a couple of solid contributions could well have seen the tourists over the line. However, Alex Lee Young also fell victim to Hardik in the 43rd over, and in the 45th Peake was removed by Kiran Chormale for 111.
With India threatening to take the game away, O'Connor added to his four-wicket haul by beginning to find the boundaries almost at will. With 20 runs required off the final over bowled by Yudhajit Guha, he managed a six off the first ball, before taking a single. A dot ball and a single later, he was back on strike with 12 required off 2 balls. He managed to hit a four off the first, before holing out on the final ball of the match for 35 off 20 balls.
Having wrapped up the one-day series, these two sides will now contest a two-match series of four-day games in Chennai, from September 30 to October 3 and October 7 to October 10.
Final score: India U19 324-8 (Rudra Patel 77, Aidan O'Connor 4-84) BEAT Australia U19 317-7 (Oliver Peake 111, Hardik Raj 3-55) by 7 runs.
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