Vaibhav Suryavanshi, the 14-year-old batting prodigy, continued his impressive form, smashing 48 runs off just 19 balls in the first Youth ODI against England U-19. His explosive innings, which included five sixes and three fours, propelled India U-19 to an easy six-wicket victory while chasing a target of 175. The match was played at County Ground in Hove, UK on Friday.

Suryavanshi's quickfire knock set the tone for India's chase. He built an exceptional 71-run partnership for the first wicket with skipper Ayush Mhatre (21 runs off 30 balls) in just 45 balls. Suryavanshi's innings came at a striking rate of 252.63. He took the attack to the English bowlers, particularly Jack Home and James Minto, hitting them for multiple boundaries and sixes. He eventually fell just short of a half-century when he miscued a slog-sweep off Ralphie Albert.

Abhigyan Kundu also contributed with an unbeaten 45 off 34 balls, ensuring India reached the target comfortably in the 24th over. AM French was the pick of the bowlers for England, taking 2 wickets for 46 runs in his 6 overs.

Earlier in the day, England U-19 were bundled out for 174 in 43 overs. Rocky Flintoff, son of former England international Andrew Flintoff, top-scored with 56 off 90 balls. Isaac Mohammed also contributed with a quickfire 42 off 28 balls. Kanishk Chouhan was the star with the ball for India, bagging 3 wickets for just 20 runs in his 10 overs. Henil Patel and RS Ambrish took two wickets each.

Suryavanshi, who was sporting Virat Kohli's No. 18 jersey, has been in sensational form. He had a breakthrough IPL season earlier this year with Rajasthan Royals, where he smashed a record 35-ball hundred. He also scored 101 off 38 balls in an IPL match against Gujarat Titans. In that tournament, he scored 252 runs in just seven matches at an astonishing strike rate of 206.56. He was also named the Super Striker of the tournament for having the highest strike rate.

The win gives India U-19 a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. The second and third matches will be played on June 30 and July 2 in Northampton, followed by the fourth and fifth One-Dayers on July 5 and 7 in Worcester.