New Zealand’s Snehith Reddy celebrates in Shubman Gill style after maiden century in 2024 U19 World Cup

Reddy NZ u-19 (Photo Source: Twitter)

New Zealand and Nepal collided in a Group D fixture in the ICC Under 19 World Cup 2024 on Sunday, January 21, at the Buffalo Park in East London. The Kiwis won by 64 runs on the back of a brilliant century from Snehith Reddy.

New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat first. They were in a spot of bother at 67/3 in the 15th over but a remarkable 157-run partnership off 164 balls between skipper Oscar Jackson and Reddy. The latter remained unbeaten on 147 off 125 balls, hitting 11 fours and six sixes in the innings.

He reached the magical three-figure mark in the 46th over when he took a single off the bowling of Aakash Chand. After completing the run, the 17-year-old bowled down in front of his family and the New Zealand fans. This reminded the cricket fraternity of how Indian batter Shubman Gill celebrates after scoring centuries. Later, Reddy said that he admires the way the Punjab batter times the ball.

“We were talking a little bit before the game, the boys on what the celebrations are gonna be. I decided the Shubman Gill bow is my celebration, it was special. One of my favourite players, I love the way he makes contact with the ball, his timing is exceptional and I tried to copy that to my batting a little bit,” he told the ICC.

Reddy expressed gratitude to have scored a century in the presence of his parents. He revealed that they advised him to enjoy himself in the tournament.

“That was extremely special. I think, them (parents) coming over yesterday and seeing the first game on the world stage was extremely and they enjoyed it and I loved it. They just told me to enjoy, it’s a massive occasion and there’ll be nerves but I had fun and that’s the key,” Reddy continued.

“I think they won’t care about the performance or anything but they just want to have fun and enjoy. When you can absorb pressure, we can apply it at the back end but that was the real key. There was few nerves obviously to be honest but after the hundred of course, it got bigger got away a few away at the end,” he added.