U-19: Iyer's ton help India colts enter final of quadrangular series

Shreyas Iyer smashed a quick-fire century to help Indian colts beat Australia by 18 runs in a rain-curtailed encounter and enter the finals of the Under-19 Quadrangular tournament here today.

With this victory, India U-19 rounded off their league engagements unbeaten, winning all three of their matches. They had earlier beaten South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Iyer sizzled with the bat as he hit 109 off just 67 balls, studded with 10 fours and six sixes to steer the hosts to a massive 321 for five.

He also stitched a valuable 170-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Ricky Bhui (66 67b, 6X4, 2X6) to take the team past the 300-run mark. Even opener Akhil Herwadkar chipped in with a half-century to contribute to the team's success.

In reply, the Australians had reached 156 for three in 30 overs before rain stopped play and the Indians won via the Duckworth-Lewis method.

Opting to bat, the Indians got off to a decent start with openers Ankush Bains (20) and Herwadkar (56) giving the team a platform to build on.

After Bains' dismissal, Vijay Zol (38) continued in the able company of Herwadkar.

The duo played with a lot of responsibility and put on 62 runs for the second wicket before Herwadkar was sent back by Kelvin Smith for a well-made half-century that came off 65 balls with the help of eight hits to the fence and a six.

The new batsman in, Iyer, started to dominate from the start and did not show any mercy to the Australian bowlers during his innings.