Rajkot: Opener Lakshya Raichandani smashed an unbeaten double century as India Under-19s took a commanding 213-run first-innings lead over Australia Under-19s on the second day of the opening Youth Test here on Monday.
Raichandani remained unbeaten on 210, studded with 20 fours and four sixes, as India reached 430 for eight at stumps after Australia were bowled out for 217 in their first innings.
The 17-year-old, who had scored an unbeaten 110 in the third Youth ODI against Australia earlier this month, continued his rich run of form with a dominant innings in the longer format.
India and Australia U-19 teams will now head for a two-match four-day Youth Tests to be played here from September 27-30 and October 5-8. Mohit Ulva (3/43) and Manal Chauhan (3/42) shared six scalps between them, while Kavya Patel (1/54) and Aryan Savsani (1/39) were also among the wickets as Australia were bowled out for a 254 in 49.3 overs in the first half.
Chasing 255, India overhauled the target in the 42nd over to win with more than eight overs and six wickets to spare, with Raichandani leading the reply.
The 17-year-old Raichandani struck nine fours and three sixes to make 110 not out off 106 balls in India’s chase, with Aaryavir Sehwag (34) once again fell without crossing a milestone despite a sparkly start.
Sehwag struck five fours to make 34 off 31 balls and put on 58 runs for the opening wicket with Raichandani, putting India on track of the run chase.
He fell in the eighth over of the innings and even as last match’s half-centurion VK Vineeth (10) could not trouble the scorers much, Kushagra Ojha chipped in with yet another vital contribution, scoring 45 off 53 balls with four fours and a six.
Anvay Dravid did not play in the third Youth ODI.
For Australia, opener Zed Hollick made a run-a-ball 87 with 12 fours and Neel Patel chipped in with 51 (71 balls) but there were plenty of batters who failed to convert the start.
Brief scores: Australia U-19 254 in 49.3 overs (Zed Hollick 87, Neel Patel 51; Mohit Ulva 3/43, Manal Chauhan 3/42) lost to India U-19 255/4 in 41.2 overs (Lakshya Raichandani 110 not out; Spencer Green 2/46) by 6 wickets
