Suryavanshi century seals 3-0 whitewash for India u19
Wednesday will certainly be a day the South Africa u19 side would prefer to erase from memory as quickly as possible.
The young South Africans suffered their heaviest defeat of their three-match Youth ODI series, going down by a crushing 233 runs to India u19, who completed a 3–0 whitewash at Willowmoore Park, in Benoni.
As had been the case on Monday, it was once again the Vaibhav Suryavanshi show.
The teenage sensation surpassed his superb effort in Monday’s second match, blasting a scintillating century in another blistering onslaught on the South African attack.
Suryavanshi opened the batting alongside Aaron George, who also impressed, and their opening partnership of 227 effectively knocked the wind out of the hosts’ sails. In a rare occurrence, George’s superb innings of 118 from 106 deliveries was merely the second fiddle to his partner’s brilliance.
Just 14 years of age but the captain of the side, Suryavanshi exhibited breathtaking ball-striking and raced to 127 from just 74 balls, hammering 10 sixes and nine fours, while laying the foundation for India’s imposing total of 393/7.
With the century, the Indian skipper completed the three-match series with 206 runs at an average of 68.6.
Ntando Soni was the best of the South African bowlers. His figures of 3/61 included the prized wicket of the Indian captain during his second spell, which was, arguably, the highlight of South Africa’s 50 overs in the field.
Jason Rowles (2/59) and a spectacular run-out from Soni brought an end to a bruising innings that left the hosts facing the daunting task of chasing almost 400 for victory.
Chasing such a total was akin to rowing upstream without paddles. The South African batsmen were given little opportunity to settle in and wickets tumbled rapidly. After 11 overs, the scoreboard read 50/5 and the writing was on the wall.
Paul James, the younger brother of former SA u19 captain Juan James, and Daniel Bosman offered stubborn resistance. James top-scored with 41 from 49 deliveries, while Bosman battled his way to a patient 40 from 60 deliveries.
Once they departed, however, sustained pressure from a disciplined Indian bowling attack, spearheaded by Kishan Kumar‘s 3/15, led to the home team collapsing to a disappointing 160 all out, which brought a difficult series for South Africa to a sobering conclusion.
Summarised scorecard
India u19 393/7 (Vaibhav Surhyavanshi 127, Aaron George 118, Vedant Trivedi 34, Mohammed Enaan 28*, Extras 26, Abhigyan Kundu 21; Ntando Soni 3/61, Jason Rowles 2/59); South Africa u19 160 (Paul James 41, Daniel Bosman 40, Corné Botha 36*; Kishan Kumar 3/15, Mohammed Enaan 2/36). India u19 won by 233 runs.
