Under-19 International Series: India beat Australia comfortably by seven wickets
According to a media release issued by Cricket Australia, Australia still sits second on the Series points table, ahead of third-placed New Zealand due to a superior run rate. New Zealand have an opportunity to overtake Australia on Wednesday when they play India at Marrara Oval in the last round match of the Series.
India beat Australia by seven wickets in the U-19 International Series at the Marrara Oval in Darwin on Monday.
According to a media release issued by Cricket Australia, Australia still sits second on the Series points table, ahead of third-placed New Zealand due to a superior run rate. New Zealand have an opportunity to overtake Australia on Wednesday when they play India at Marrara Oval in the last round match of the Series.
The Aussies got off to a steady start as Matthew Short and Tom Leaver hit 34 and 23 respectively. India's bowling was led by Aamir Gani who took 3/25 and bowled a tight line.
Lower-order cameos from Jake Doran (41 off 52 balls) and Cam Valente (28 from 25 balls) boosted the total, but Australia's earlier struggle to get the ball past the infield limited their ability to post a defendable target.
In reply, India won without too much fuss, beating Australia by seven wickets and with four overs to spare. Akhil Herwadkar (60) and captain Vijay Zol (64) were the chief destroyers, while Matt Fotia (2/34) and Short (1/10) were the wicket-takers for Australia.
"We understand that we're not quite where we want to be, but it doesn't just happen overnight. We've got to keep working really hard," said Australian coach Stuart Law.
"We're a lot better than the performances that we're actually producing, which is disappointing - not just for me, but for the players who understand we've been underachieving in these games."
"In these games, you've got to be able to score runs at a fair pace and India have got some good batters; a few boys have played in the IPL already and have that experience. We've got some fantastic players too and as soon as they start understanding and believing it, we should start scoring a lot more runs," he said.
The U-19 International Series Final will take place at Marrara Oval on Friday, 12 July. In the other match to be played on Friday, the third-placed team will take on local side NT Strike at Gardens Oval.