Suryavanshi's ton in vain as Aussies take control

Opener Vaibhav Suryavanshi struck a quick hundred but India U19's middle and later order batters crumbled against Australian spinners Thomas Brown and Vishwa Ramkumar to throw away the advantage on the second day of the four-day first unofficial Test, in Chennai on Tuesday.

Suryavanshi, resuming from overnight 81, duly completed his century (104, 62b, 14x4, 4x6) and added 133 runs for the opening wicket with Vihaan Malhotra (76, 108b, 13x4, 1x6).

But rest of the batters did not follow it up, as India, overnight 103/0, were bundled out for 296 in their first innings, three runs more than Australia's first-dig score.

In their second innings, the tourists were placed at a gingerly 110 for four, but still hold a 107-run advantage as chasing anything close to 200 in the fourth innings could be a tricky proposition here.

But for that slight edge, the Aussies should thank their wily spinners — off-spinner Brown (3/79) and the Indian-origin leg-spinner Ramkumar (4/79).

After Christian Howe' direct throw caught Suryavanshi short of crease, Brown and Ramkumar never allowed the Indians to settle, as the visitors plucked the remaining nine wickets for 163 runs.

The next significant stand in the first innings was of 57 runs between Abhigyan Kundu (32) and skipper Soham Patwardhan (33) for the fifth wicket, but India could not even cross the 300-run mark.

In their second essay, opener Riley Kingsell (48) and Oliver Peake (32) added 72 runs for the second wicket but leg-spinner Mohammed Enaan grabbed two wickets to peg them back a bit.

Brief scores: Australia U19: 293 all out and 110/4 in 39 overs (Riley Kingsell 48; Mohammed Enaan 2/33) vs India U19: 296 all out in 62.4 overs (Vaibhav Suryavanshi 104, Vihaan Malhotra 76; Thomas Brown 3/79, Vishwa Ramkumar 4/79). PTI UNG 7/21/2024