IND-U19 vs AUS-U19, 2nd Youth Test — Day 2 Stumps: India U19 315, Australia U19 174 & 86/4, trail by 55

For a long stretch of Day 2, this was Spencer Green's Test. The Australian seamer bowled 28 overs, took seven wickets for 110, and struck with consecutive balls in the 52nd over to leave India U19 at 184 for 8 — ten runs ahead, with the tail exposed and the match suddenly level. Then the tail refused to be a tail. India's last two wickets added 131, and by stumps the game had tilted back so far that Australia U19, 86 for 4 in their second innings, still need 55 to make India bat again.

It is the kind of day that tells you something about a young side. India had every reason to settle for a lead of 30 or 40. Instead, a wicketkeeper and two bowlers batted as though the scoreboard owed them something.

India resumed on 38 for 2 and the morning was about the captain. Yashbardhan Chauhan made 52 from 83 balls with nine fours, and he and Kushagra Ojha (29 from 61) took the score to 91 before Green had Ojha caught by Lough. Chauhan was bowled by Green at 104. Manal Chauhan (34 from 50) and Aryan Yadav (30 from 56) added 67 for the fifth wicket to take India past Australia's 174, before the innings lurched: Manal caught off Green at 171, Aryan bowled by Vaseo at 179, and then Mohit Ulva and Aayan Akram gone to successive Green deliveries at 184.

Green's figures — 28-6-110-7 — are the work of a bowler who kept coming back. Five of his seven victims were bowled, lbw or caught-and-bowled; he did not need much help.

Abhipray Biswas had already had a match to remember with the gloves on Day 1, with five dismissals in Australia's innings. On Day 2 he made it a match to keep. His 73 came from 62 balls, with eleven fours and two sixes, and he and Priyanshu Singh added 89 for the ninth wicket. Green eventually bowled him at 273, but Tanmay Baloda — the man who had taken six wickets the day before — then made 28 from 37 with a six, adding 42 more with Priyanshu before Pietz had him caught. Priyanshu finished on 30 not out from 66 balls. Without the 131 runs India's last two wickets added, the lead would have been ten; with them, it is 141.

Australia had 26 overs to survive before stumps, and Baloda gave them no peace. He had Hayden Barbulovic caught at 9, bowled Neel Patel at 13, and trapped captain Matthew Lough lbw at 26 after Lough had faced 45 balls for 8. Eli Brain counter-attacked with eight fours in a 35-ball 39, the most fluent batting Australia have managed in the match, until Baloda had him caught by Lakshya Raichandani at 65. Baloda's second-innings figures are 11-3-26-4; across the match so far, 36 overs, ten wickets, 58 runs.

Blake Cattle (11 from 40) and Zed Hollick (12 from 9) saw it through to the close.

The surface still rewards bowlers who stick to a line: Green's seven came from long spells, and Baloda (now ten wickets for 58 in 36 overs) continues to be the most difficult thing on the ground to score off. But Day 2 also showed that batting is possible — India's last two wickets scored at close to five an over, and Brain found the boundary freely. With two days left, the match is likely to be decided by how long Australia's last six wickets can last.

We did not publish a preview for this Youth Test, so there is no prediction to grade. We will keep filing a stumps report each day until the result.

Australia U19 resume on 86 for 4, 55 behind, with Cattle and Hollick together and their wicketkeeper Charlie Henderson — who batted 147 balls for 37 in the first innings — still to come. India U19, 1-0 up in the two-match series, need six wickets to stay on course for a 2-0 result, and the first hour against Baloda will set the tone. If Australia can bat through the day and build a lead of 150 or more, the final two days become a real contest; if not, this could be over quickly.