Fotia guides Australian U-19s to victory

Having been sent in by the Kiwis, the hosts posted 6-225 from their allotted overs with Commonwealth Bank Bushrangers rookie Matt Short plundering 37 from 45 balls at the top of the order.

The Kiwis appeared to be making light work of the run chase, however, before Fotia turned the match with a destructive spell that reaped 5-38 from 9.2 overs.

“The pitch was a bit two-paced, especially early on with the new ball, so I thought as long as we bowled well, we could defend 225 pretty easily,” Fotia said.

“We tried to bowl as many back-to-back dot balls as possible to build the pressure and bring the run-rate up to a run a ball. And then, once we got there, pushing it higher and higher and that caused wickets to tumble and they fell in a heap as the run-rate sky-rocketed.

“It felt pretty good taking five-for Australia, pretty surreal. Hopefully the win gives us confidence going into our next match.”

Having knocked over both New Zealand openers, Fotia snared the prize wicket of Ken McClure for 61 to spark a collapse of 5-11 as the Australians steamrolled their way through the lower order to claim victory.

Fresh home from returning from a fortnight working with Glenn McGrath at his MRF Pace Foundation academy in Chennai, Fotia was understandably upbeat about working alongside the Test great.

“It was pretty surreal just to meet Glenn McGrath. He was helping us with how to get batsmen out and thinking about the game itself and little tricks he used to get batsmen out,” he said.

“Just little things like listening to a song before you go out onto the field, have things that click you into rhythm.”

Earlier in the day, Short and Tom Leaver (31) combined for a 52-run opening wicket stand before the Bushrangers young gun fell 13 shy of his half-century.

Jake Doran anchored the innings with an unbeaten 79 from 80 balls and received solid support from Ben McDermott (36) to post a competitive total.

Australia will next meet India, who accounted for defeated Papua New Guinea by 71 runs in a friendly, in its second clash of the Under-19 International Series tomorrow.

To see a full scorecard from the Australia and New Zealand encounter, click here.