Ahmedabad: Left-arm spinner Tanmay Baloda picked up a six-wicket haul as India Under-19 gained the upper hand in the second Youth Test despite a late double blow by Australia U19 on an action-packed Day One of the match at the Narendra Modi Stadium ‘B’ ground in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
Baloda’s wonderful spell helped India U19 bowl out Australia U19 for a modest 174 in their first innings. But the visitors fought back valiantly in the final session by removing both Indian openers to reduce the hosts to 38/2 at stumps, as India U19 trailed by 136 runs.
At stumps, Kushagra Ojha was unbeaten on 13 alongside skipper Yashbardhan Chauhan, who’s not out on seven.
Opting to field after winning the toss, India’s fast bowlers set the tone early. Priyanshu Singh struck in the second over by removing Australian skipper Matthew Lough for a duck, before fellow quick Mohit Ulva had Hayden Barbulovic caught behind in the fifth over to leave the visitors in early trouble at 9/2.
Neel Patel and Eli Brain briefly steadied the ship with a cautious partnership, but the introduction of Baloda turned the tide completely in India’s favour. The left-arm spinner broke the stand by trapping Brain LBW and followed it up in his very next over by having Patel stumped.
Pacer Aayan Akram then joined the wicket-taking act by inducing an edge from Blake Cattle, before Baloda took out Zed Hollick to leave Australia reeling at six down inside 21 overs. Just as the visitors appeared in danger of being bowled out for a double-digit score, wicketkeeper-batter Charlie Henderson and Jacob Pietz staged a gritty rescue act.
The duo added 70 runs for the seventh wicket to take Australia past the 150-mark. But Baloda once again proved to be the partnership breaker by cleaning up Pietz for 26. Akram then dismissed Henderson shortly after, as Baloda took out the tail and became India’s standout bowler.
India’s innings began on a shaky note — Lakshya Raichandani, who had slammed a double century in the series opener, edged behind off fast bowler Thomas Vaseo after a laborious 1 off 22 balls. Leg-spinner Spencer Green then trapped Sagar Virk lbw to leave the hosts two down early before Ojha and Chauhan saw off the remaining overs safely.
Brief scores:
Australia Under-19 174 all out in 73 overs (Charlie Henderson 37, Neel Patel 31; Tanmay Baloda 6-32, Ayaan Akram 2-45) lead India Under-19 38/2 in 15 overs (Sagar Virk 16, Kushagra Ojha 13 not out; Thomas Vaseo 1-8, Spencer Green 1-12) trail by 136 runs
(IANS)
