Australia Under-19s powered to an eight wicket victory over England with more than a day to spare in the first Youth Test at New Road, Worcester.

Match Summary

England Under-19s vs Australia Under-19s, 1st Youth Test, Australia Under-19 tour of England

England Under-19s 174/10 (50.1 ov) & 363/10 (75 ov)

Australia Under-19s 348/10 (92.3 ov) & *189/2 (21.1 ov)

Result - Australia 19s won by 8 wickets

Scorecard

Openers Harry Dixon and Sam Konstas made light work of a 190 target as they brought up their century partnership in just 13 overs.

They reached their fifties off 33 and 40 balls respectively as they took toll of some ordinary bowling with England tending to drop too short or over pitch.

Dixon had looked set for his second hundred of the game until he holed out in the deep on 83 to end a stand of 156 in 17.2 overs.

But another fine knock took his match aggregate to 250 after his superb first innings 167 spanning five and a half hours in searing temperatures.

Konstas finished the game in the grand manner with a six off Farhan Ahmed and ended on 84 not out from 64 balls with three maximums and 10 fours.

The contribution of new ball bowler Callum Vidler was also key with a match figures of 36-5-134-8 while captain Hugh Weibgen completed a second innings five-for.

England’s lead was only 72 when the eighth wicket fell this morning but Australia were held up by the ninth wicket pair of Dom Kelly and Farhan Ahmed who put on 105 in 23 overs.

The home side will look to make amends in the second Youth Test which gets underway at Northampton on Saturday.

There were some encouraging individual performances, including Eddie Jack’s four wicket haul in the first innings when the bowlers stuck to their task in the baking hot sun.

Jaydn Denly and captain Ben McKinney’s opening partnership of 138 second time around and the fight demonstrated by Kelly and Ahmed with the bat today were also positive signs.

But England had spent the game playing catch-up after being bowled out on the opening day for 174 after choosing to bat.

England resumed today on 169-4, still five runs in arrears with Hamza Sheikh joined at the wicket by Noah Thain.

The fifth wicket pair were looking to rebuild the innings after the loss of four wickets for 31 runs in 8.2 overs before the close of play yesterday had handed the initiative back to Australia.

They added 41 in relatively untroubled fashion but then three wickets fell in quick succession.

Shaikh, having made an accomplished 34 off 51 balls, pushed forward to Vidler and was bowled.

Thain then clipped Bajwa straight to mid-wicket and in the next over Vidler struck again as Jack Carney pushed hard at a delivery and nicked to second slip.

There was more joy for Vidler when Jack went for a big hit but only succeeded in slicing the ball on the offside and Bajwa held onto a good catch running to his right from mid off.

England were then 246-8 but Kelly and Ahmed stretched their advantage to three figures before a lengthy break for rain.

Play resumed after a near two hour delay and the ninth wicket pair continued to offer determined resistance.

They completed a half century stand off 63 balls and Kelly brought up his own fifty with a back foot square drive off Vidler to the ropes.

It came from 59 deliveries with 10 boundaries.

The partnership stretched past the century mark before Weibgen brought himself back into the attack to polish off proceedings.

Ahmed (31) was taken around the corner at leg slip and then Raphael Weatherall pushed forward and perished in the same fashion to leave Kelly unbeaten on 74.

Australia were left 46 overs to try and complete victory with a day to spare and Dixon set off as if he intended to achieve it in double quick time.

Jack shared the new ball and Dixon smashed three fours and a six in his third over which cost 20 runs. It set the tone for the remainder of the innings as Dixon and Konstas regularly peppered the boundary boards.

The stand was finally broken when Dixon, having hit three sixes and 11 fours off just 52 balls, clubbed Denly to long on.

But, after the departure of Harjas Singh reverse sweeping, Konstas saw Australia home in 21.1 overs.

Australian pace bowler Callum Vidler, who picked up eight wickets in the game, said: “It was good to get a few wickets but I’m more happy that we’ve won and four-day cricket is always fun to play.

“I didn’t feel too good on the first day but I was lucky enough to get three wickets in my first spell.

“Then in the second spell I found my rhythm which I think I carried into the second innings in terms of pace and was able to pick a few from the short ball.

“Harry (Dixon) was incredible. It’s always good to be playing with such talented players like that and it was a great all round performance.

“There were a lot of tests, it wasn’t easy the whole way, there were a few bumps on the road, but definitely a good result and some good lessons as well.

“They batted well in the second innings and today had a good ninth wicket partnership of over 100 but apart from that, we had most control.

“Hopefully we can put in another good performance in the second game at Northampton and get another win.”

 

England’s Dom Kelly, who hit an unbeaten 74 in his side’s second innings, said: “We batted a lot better in the second innings and put up a good fight there which is always good.

“But overall, pretty disappointing to be honest. To lose by eight wickets is just s shame and I think we can do a lot better than that with bat and ball.

“It was nipping around on the first day when we were batting, which didn’t make it easy. We could have played better there and could have got a bigger total. When you are bowled out for 170 or so, it’s always hard to come back from that really.

“The bowlers stuck to it on the second day and Eddie Jack came running in hard and we put up a good fight and got off to a flier in the second innings.

“But then we lost a few wickets on the second evening. If we had gone in one down overnight, it’s a different game.

“We were in a lot of trouble and were glad to put together a decent score which we actually thought we had a chance of defending when we came off.

“But they showed pretty positive intent, weren’t messing about and just wanted to get the job done and they basically had a go at everyone.

“We’ve lost the first one, but we will be looking to come back, will keep our heads up and go again.”

 

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