A wicket every 4.5 overs: India trump Australia in shortest Youth Test of all time

AUS vs IND U19, 2nd Youth Test: Match story

The hosts won the toss and elected to bat first on day one but lost five wickets in the first 10 overs. Wicketkeeper Alex Lee Young helped Australia get past the 100-run mark with a knock of 66, but all they could manage was 135 in 43.3 overs. Henil and Khilan Patel took three wickets each for India.

In response, the two stars of the Indian batting unit - captain Ayush Mhatre and young sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi - failed. No Indian batter reached 30, but five crossed 20. With the help of 23 extras, they were able to get past Australia U19's total and secure a lead of 36 runs. Kasey Barton was the pick of the hosts' bowlers with figures of 4-57.

Also read: Australia v India U19, first Youth Test: Vaibhav Suryavanshi, son of former Indian cricketer take visitors to innings win

Australia U19 then got off to another poor start, losing two wickets without putting on a run. They had collapsed to 32-5 in the first innings, but surpassed that by falling to 29-5 in the second. Young rescued them again, but could only score 38 this time around as Australia U19 folded for 116. Henil took three wickets again, as did Naman Pushpak (3-19).

"border:="" 1px="" solid="" rgba(0,="" 0,="" 0.1);"="" width="800" height="450" src="https://cdn.forms-content-1.sg-form.com/f8b24968-49bb-11ef-8a7f-c678d673c05c" class="lazy">

The visitors were given a target of 81. Suryavanshi, who batted at No.3 in the first innings, was promoted back up to open, but was dismissed for a golden duck. Mhatre smashed three boundaries in his first five balls but was out for 13 of 6. Vihaan Malhotra (21 off 21), Vedant Trivedi (33 off 35), and Rahul Kumar (13 off 14) then took India U19 home in just 12.2 overs with seven wickets in hand.

The shortest Youth Test ever

The entire game lasted less than two days and just 886 balls across the four innings - or 147.4 overs. This makes it the shortest ever (in terms of balls bowled) Youth Test to have a result, eclipsing the Pakistan vs West Indies Youth Test at Faisalabad in 1995 which lasted 992 balls (165.2 overs). West Indies U19 won that game - which involved future Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi - by five wickets.

This match at Mackay saw a total of 33 wickets fall at the rate of 26.84, that is, a wicket more frequently than every 4.5 overs. The match batting average stood at 15.33 runs per wicket.

With this victory, India U19 clean swept the Youth Test series as well after blanking Australia U19 3-0 in the preceding Youth ODIs.

Shortest completed Youth Tests