… Australia’s Wyllie (101 not out) continues to impress

INDIA became the first team to progress from the Group Stage at the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup with a thumping win over Ireland, while Australia’s Teague Wyllie continued to impress in the Wallabies’ second win of the tournament.

India’s openers got the match off to a controlled start, building a huge partnership to set their team up for a potentially mammoth total. Angkrish Raghuvanshi (79) and Harnoor Singh (88) played exceptionally well at the top of the order, putting on 164 together before the fall of the first wicket in the 26th over.

The rest of the top five all scored runs too, but India will perhaps reason that the total could have been even more had there not been a slightly quiet period during the second half of the innings.
As it was, the 300-mark was reached and in style, with Rajvardhan Hangargekar providing that much-needed acceleration with a blistering 39 not out off just 17 balls, a knock that featured five sixes..

Ireland may have been outclassed on the day in Tarouba, but spinner Jamie Forbes held his own against a high-calibre of opponents in Trinidad.
The 17-year-old stemmed the tide of runs and finished with extremely tidy figures of 1-38 from his ten overs.

It was to India’s great credit that they managed so competently with six members of their squad unavailable for selection due to a COVID-19 scare in the camp.

Sidharth Yadav, Yash Dhull, Aaradhya Yadav, SK Rasheed, Manav Parakh and Vasu Vats were all placed in isolation ahead of this fixture against Ireland, and the wider implications of the possible outbreak are as yet unclear.

But the new-look India side showed no sign of disruption, with the top five all looking fluent with the bat and all seven bowlers on show returning tidy figures.
A chase of 237 to win was not a foregone conclusion for Australia, but they made the task look easy with a dominant performance with the bat.

The top three all scored big, with the openers putting on a century stand before Campbell Kellaway fell just three runs short of his half-century.
Number three Aiden Cahill kept the momentum going and upped the rate significantly with his blistering 72 of 45 balls, hitting seven fours and four maximums in a sparkling knock.

But it was opener and star of the day Teague Wyllie who was the standout performer with the bat for Australia, finishing unbeaten and reaching his century just before the target was reached. His 101 not out from 115 balls follows on from his outstanding undefeated 86 against West Indies in the opening game.

Wyllie was also excellent in the field throughout, but his catch to dismiss Rafay Khan in the final over of the innings was particularly eye-catching, with him taking the spiralling catch one-handed and on the run as the ball dropped over his shoulder. (ICC Media)