Ahmedabad, Oct 7 (IANS) Left-arm spinner Tanmay Baloda delivered a masterclass in spin bowling by taking a staggering 14 wickets in the match, including eight in the second innings, to propel India Under-19 to a comprehensive ten-wicket victory over Australia Under-19 on day of the second four-day game here at the Narendra Modi Stadium ‘B’ Ground on Wednesday.
The result also meant India U-19 won the red-ball series 2-0. Baloda, who was drafted into the squad as a late replacement for the suspended Rohit Yadav, followed up his first-innings 6-32 with figures of 8-41 in the second essay as Australia were bundled out for 151 in their second innings.
Set a nominal target of 11 runs, India knocked off the required runs in just five balls, with Lakshya Raichandani striking two boundaries off Spencer Green in the opening over to complete a series sweep. India had earlier won the opening four-day game in Rajkot by an innings and 48 runs, following a 3-0 whitewash in the preceding one-day series.
Resuming from 86/4 in their second innings and still trailing by 55 runs, Australia needed a substantial recovery to stay alive in the contest. However, Baloda dealt swift blows in the opening four overs of the day by removing Zed Hollick and Charlie Henderson in quick succession.
Right-arm medium pacer Priyanshu Singh (2-25) kept up the pressure from the other end by accounting for Jacob Pietz and Thomas Vaseo to leave the visitors in deep trouble. Baloda then wrapped up the tail by dismissing Patrick Sullivan before ending the innings with the key wicket of Blake Cattle, who top-scored for Australia with a fighting 63.
Previously in the game, Australia were bowled out for 174 in 73 overs in their first innings. India responded with a solid 315, anchored by half-centuries from captain Yashbardhan Chauhan (52) and wicketkeeper-batter Abhipray Biswas (73), despite a haul of 7-110 from Australian leg-spinner Spencer Green.
Brief Scores: Australia Under-19 174 and 151 (Blake Cattle 63; Tanmay Baloda 8-41, Priyanshu Singh 2-25) lost to India Under-19 315 and 11/0 (Lakshay Raichandani nine not out, Sagar Virk two not out) by ten wickets
–IANS
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