India lead the three-match YODI series 1-0.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi hit the headlines during IPL 2025 as a fiery Rajasthan Royals opener. The teenage prodigy hasn’t looked back and has kept up with all the titles he has received so far. The 14-year-old played yet another heroic knock as the captain of India U19 during the second SA U19 vs IND U19 YODI.
South Africa’s Muhammed Bulbulia won the toss and elected to bat first at Willowmoore Park in Benoni. No.4 batter Jason Rowles scored a century, but the hosts were all out for 245 with three balls remaining, with Kishan Singh scalping four wickets.
What followed is absolute carnage from the opener and captain, Vaibhav Suryavanshi. After regular skipper Ayush Mhatre and vice-captain Vihaan Malhotra were ruled out of the bilateral series due to injuries, the 14-year-old took up the mantle. In the first match, he managed only 11 runs. But in the ongoing match, he is back to business as usual: his jaw-dropping form.
Suryavanshi played 24 balls and made 68 runs, out of which 64 runs were scored in boundaries. He struck 10 sixes and a four in his short but dominating knock.
He took the first ball of the second innings, by JJ Basson, off to a flyer, followed by a single. He hammered five more sixes in the next 10 balls. Overall, he faced nine dot balls, one less than the number of sixes he struck.
With his impactful knock, the captain also gave a flying start to India U19 after his partner, Aaron George, was dismissed for a 19-ball 20. Suryavanshi was also eventually out to Michael Kruiskamp’s bowling.
The match was hit by a few delays due to lightning and rain. The target is cut down to 230. At the time of writing this report, India U19 are two down for 115 in 12.5 overs. The visitors need 115 runs from 29.1 overs. Vedant Trivedi (10 off 23) and Abhigyan Kundu (11 off 11) are unbeaten at the crease, while another rain delay causes another interruption.
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After Steve Stolk, Rishabh Pant held the second place with an 18-ball fifty in 2016. The keeper-batter now has company with another left-handed player, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, on the list of fastest YODI half-centuries.
During the India U19 captain’s fear-mongering knock for the bowlers, he made 51 runs in 18 balls with his eighth six of the innings. This also marks Suryavanshi’s second entry in the top 5 list of fastest YODI half-centuries.
The Indian contingent for the upcoming U19 World Cup 2026 will be delighted as Vaibhav Suryavanshi will carry his blazing form in Zimbabwe and Namibia. The tournament opener of IND U19 vs USA U19 will be played on January 15 at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.
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