IND U-19 vs AUS U-19, 2nd Youth Test: Anmoljeet, Enaan spin India Under-19 to innings victory over Aussies

Anmoljeet Singh and Mohamed Enaan used the clay surface to their advantage and scalped four wickets each in the first innings, as Australia went from 144/3 to 277 all out.

The leg-spin, off-spin combo of Anmoljeet Singh and Mohamed Enaan worked wonders as they scalped 15 wickets across two innings. | Photo Credit: RAGU R/The Hindu

The spin duo of Mohamed Enaan and Anmoljeet Singh were at their destructive best on Wednesday as India U-19 crushed Australia U-19 in the second and final multi-day Youth Test at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

The leg-spin, off-spin combo worked wonders as they scalped 16 wickets across two innings, including a five-for from Anmoljeet, to help India win the match by an innings and 120 runs and complete the series clean sweep.

The penultimate day of the Test began with half the city wearing a dull look due to the presence of dark clouds except for a sunny patch in the vicinity of the venue.

However, half an hour after the start of the day’s play, a short 10-minute spell halted proceedings with Australia stranded at 171/3, trailing by 321 runs with skipper Oliver Peake and Alexander Lee-Young at the crease.

Super Soppers had to come into action, and the game resumed after a 50-minute delay. The Aussie duo continued where they left off and piled on runs, with Peake smashing a stroke-filled hundred off 163 balls.

The turning point for India came right after Peake reached triple digits as Anmoljeet’s flighted delivery castled Lee-Young through his defence. Their 166-run stand that troubled the home side finally came to a close.

Shortly after that, K.P. Karthikeya’s brilliant direct hit from mid-off to dismiss Christian Howe came at a crucial juncture, triggering Australia’s collapse.

Anmol and Enaan used the clay surface to their advantage and scalped four wickets each, as Australia went from 144/3 to 277 all out, a few minutes after the resumption of play after lunch. India enforced a follow-on, as Australia still trailed by 215 runs. (The cut-off for follow-on in a three- or four-day Test is 150 runs according to MCC Law 14.1.2.)

Samarth N started with the ball in the second innings, bowling an inswinger that crashed onto Riley Kingsell’s pads, and perhaps that was a hint of what was in store for Australia.

Peake’s side got off to a cautious start as Soham Patwardhan, India’s skipper, chose to press the Australians with spin from both ends.

The move paid dividends as Enaan and Anmol removed openers Kingsell and Simon Budge via identical balls that kept low as Australia was reduced to 34/2 under 10 overs. Then, Centurion Peake tried an ambitious sweep off a full delivery from Enaan but missed and made a mess of his stumps.

Karthikeya recreated the first-inning magic yet again as he sent Lee-Young packing with an electrifying direct hit from the mid-on region and punished the Australians for attempting an unnecessary run.

What followed was a similar script to that of the first innings as Australia lost constant wickets to the spinners and was bundled out for a meagre 94.

Brief scores:

Ind U-19 492 bt Aus U-19 277 in 80.2 overs (Oliver Peake 117, Alex Lee Young 66, Mohamed Enaan 4/60, Anmoljeet 4/72) & f/o 95 in 31.3 overs (Mohamed Enaan 3/37, Anmoljeet 5/32).