Australia’s Indian-origin cricketer Jason Sangha made history in a tour game of England ahead of Ashes 2017-18. Sangha scored a century against England in the second innings helping Cricket Australia XI recover after an ordinary first innings performance. Sangha scored 133 runs from 226 balls with the help of 13 fours and 1 six. The 17-year-old became the second youngest player to score a century (18 years and 68 days) against England in a First-Class game. The New South Wales batsman is only behind India’s legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar on the list (17 years and 107 days).
The youngster stitched a match-saving partnership with Matthew Short. The duo put on a partnership of 253 runs for the fourth wicket. Sangha countered the short balls from Craig Overton and in-form bowler Chris Woakes with perfection. He scored boundaries off the short ball, not letting the pressure get to him and did the trick for his team. His innings saved Cricket Australia XI from a defeat which would have helped England players confidence ahead of Ashes 2017-18.
Here’s what the 18-year-old had to say after his match-saving knock talking to cricket.com.au.
It took a while to get there (to his 100) in the 90s but all the hard work is paying off. I’m glad I got to make this hundred with some great guys next to me, and also be alongside Matt Short for his hundred. It’s great fun to be out there with ‘Shorty’. We’ve just been telling ourselves to get to the next 50 (runs), then the next 50. I’m really enjoying it.
Though the youngster was lucky a few times. He got dropped at the covers off Mason Crane’s bowling. Here’s the video of the dropped catch-
It looks like Mason Crane has kept a very close count of exactly how many dropped catches he’s had off his bowling… pic.twitter.com/ZNO3iJDNIT
— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) November 18, 2017
Here’s a glimpse of Sangha’s batting talents in the limited overs format-
Here’s the list of 6 youngest players who have scored a century against England in First-Class matches –
17y, 107d – Sachin Tendulkar, India, 1990
18y, 68d – Jason Sangha, CA XI, 2017-18
18y, 223d – Hashan Tillakaratne, Sri Lanka, 1985-86
18y, 246d – Mushtaq Mohammad, Pakistan, 1962
18y, 250d – Gursharan Singh, India U22, 1981-82
18y, 290d – Adrian Barath, West Indies A 2008-09
Note: The age of players mentioned above are on the start (Day 1) of the game.
