CHENNAI: Spin bowling all-rounder Yashbardhan Chauhan scored a brisk fifty (54 off 34 balls) before claiming two wickets as India U19 beat Australia U19 by seven runs in a rain-truncated first Youth ODI in Rajkot on Friday. Anvay Dravid, son of former India captain and coach Rahul Dravid, also slammed a quickfire 18-ball 38 while Aaryavir Sehwag, ex-India opener Virender Sehwag's son, scored 28 runs off 26 balls on his India U19 debut as their team posted 182/6 in 20 overs at the Niranjan Shah Stadium.
In reply, Australia U19 fell seven runs short as they could manage 175 for seven. At one point of time, the visiting team was looking good to achieve the target with the skipper Jack Czosnek leading the charge (27-ball 55). Openers Neel Patel (45 of 31 balls) and Hayden Barbulovic (40 off 24) gave Australia a fine start before Czosnek took over. However, Czosnek's departure in the 19th over put paid to the visiting side's hopes of securing a win.
Earlier, Aaryavir, along with captain Lakshya Raichandani, gave the team a good start by scoring 45 in the first six overs. They, however, lost quick wickets and were reduced to 88/4 in 11.5 overs. Anvay then joined forces with Chauhan as the duo added 69 runs from 34 balls for the fifth wicket to provide momentum to the innings. For Australia U19, Spencer Green and Eli Brain bagged two wickets each. Chauhan was adjudged player of the match for his all-round show.
Brief scores: India U19 182/6 in 20 ovs (Aaryavir Sehwag 28, Yashbardhan Chauhan 54, Anvay Dravid 38; Spencer Green 2/43, Eli Brain 2/29) bt Australia U19 175/7 in 20 ovs (Neel Patel 45, Jack Czosnek 55; Yashbardhan Chauhan 2/28).