Trinidad and Tabago, Jan 20 (FN Agency) 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. Team India put up a splendid show despite six of their first-choice players including Captain Yash Dhull and Vice Captain SK Rasheed tested Covid positive and were not available for selection ahead of the match against Ireland. Dhull, Rasheed, Sidharth Yadav, Aaradhya Yadav, Manav Parakh and Vasu Vats were all placed into isolation, as Team India was fighting the uncertainties of a possible outbreak in their camp. Battling against all odds, 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. 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 at the top of the order, putting on 164 together before the fall of the first wicket in the 26th over.
As it was, the 300-mark was reached and in style, with Rajvardhan Hangargekar providing much-needed acceleration with a blistering 39* off just 17 balls. Ireland may have been outclassed on the day in Tarouba, but spinner Jamie Forbes held his own against a high-caliber opponent in Trinidad. The 17-year-old stemmed the tide of runs and finished with tidy figures of 1/38 from his ten overs. Ireland will need another such controlled performance from Forbes in the final group game against South Africa, a fixture that will decide who joins India in the Super League phase and who drops down with Uganda into the Plate. In another match, 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, reported ICC. The top three 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 with his blistering 72 off 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 caught. His 101* from 115 balls follows on from his outstanding 86* against West Indies in the opening game. It wasn’t just his century that made Wyllie the star player in Basseterre. The 17-year-old set the standard in the field as Australia kept Scotland under pressure throughout the first innings. Wyllie was 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 spiraling catch one-handed and on the run as the ball dropped over his shoulder.