Youth ODI: India hammer Australia to sweep series

Brisbane: Middle-order batters Vedant Trivedi and Rahul Kumar scored half-centuries while young left-arm spinner Khilan Patel grabbed four wickets as India Under-19 crushed Australia Under-19 by a massive 167 runs to make a clean sweep of the three-match Youth ODI series, in Brisbane, on Friday.

Vedant (86 off 92 balls) and Rahul’s (62 off 84 balls) 99-run partnership for the fourth wicket set the platform for a competitive 280 for 9.

Australia A were in early trouble, losing three wickets with just 39 on the board. With relentless pressure from left-arm pacer Udhav Mohan (3-26) and spinner Khilan Patel (4-26), the home side were bundled out for just 113 runs in 28.3 overs, handing India their biggest win the three match series.

They had beaten the hosts by seven wickets and 51 runs in the last two matches.

India did not have a great start after electing to bat, losing skipper Ayush Mhatre for 4 — his third single-digit score in the series, and the previous game’s half-centurion Vaibhav Suryavanshi for 16.

At 36-2, it was the left-handed Vihaan Malhotra, who batted with caution to score a 52-ball 40 and shared a 69-run stand with Vedant, who has been one of the standout batters in the series, scoring two half-centuries.

Vedant ensured a healthy run-rate while his partner played cautiously to guide India through the crucial middle overs.

Wicketkeeper-batter Harvansh Pangalia (23) and tail-ender Khilan Patel’s unbeaten 19 runs gave India U-19 a fighting total.

But it proved to be more than sufficient as the home side went into self-destructive mode, losing wickets at regular intervals with just three batters scoring in double digits.

The 19-year-old Udhav (3-26) demolished the top-order getting rid of opener Alex Lee Young, Steven Hogan and skipper Will Malajczuk in quick succession.

Brief scores: India U-19 280 for 9 in 50 overs (Vihaan Malhotra 40, Vedant Trivedi 86, Rahul Kumar 62; Rahul Kumar 3-45, Kasey Barton 3-39) beat Australia U-19 113 all out in 28.3 overs (Alex Turner 32, Tom Hogan 28; Udhav Mohan 3-26, Khilan Patel 4-26, Kanishk Chouhan 2-18). Agencies

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