Under-19 World Cup: armed with pace and movement, Lachmund is learning on the job

When Australia quick Charles Lachmund began the 40th over of West Indies' innings in Harare, they needed 83 to knock over the defending Under-19 World Cup champions. At that stage, Lachmund had 1 for 46 from his six overs, but he removed Kunal Tilokani and the chase fizzled out, leaving Australia unbeaten heading into their semi-final.

It was the first time they had been challenged in the tournament and Lachmund, who claimed two further wickets to stand as the World Cup's joint-leading wicket-taker, believed it came at a good time with the prospect of facing England in the semi-finals and potentially India in the final.

"It did get quite tense," Lachmund said. "We hadn't really come across any of that sort of pressure earlier in the tournament. Particularly in the powerplay, with the new rock, it was very difficult because they [West Indies] obviously needed to save their chances of maintaining their spot in the tournament [so] needed to go very hard. That's what you're going to get with the English and the Indians.

"It's very high-paced cricket that leaves you on your toes and makes you resort to other plans and go outside what you're normally around. So, yeah, I think it'll be massive for going forward in the semis and potentially the final."

Lachmund has stood out during the tournament with his pace and movement, but his treatment by West Indies' top order early in their chase was a new experience. "We hadn't really been used to blokes getting after our attack at the top," he said. "We discussed with Ollie [Peake, the captain] and the feedback from the coaches was just to hit the stumps.

"It was almost like an attitude change. I was quite frustrated at the top, but then you understood that this needs to happen in order for us to prepare. Just try to and embrace the contest, because that's obviously what we're going to get against the top teams. They're not really going to sit on you at all. They're going to go after you and challenge your skills."

"It was definitely good to play a team like India because they're obviously the standard across the world in almost all formats of cricket. They're always going to be up there. As we've seen in this tournament, they've proved to be one of the better teams"Charles Lachmund on playing India in a bilateral series last year

Heading into the tournament, Lachmund, who is from Toowoomba in Queensland and, as previously talked about, has modelled himself on James Pattinson, was billed as the leader of the attack and he has managed to live up to those expectations with 3 for 41 against Ireland, 2 for 19 against Sri Lanka and 3 for 29 against South Africa, forming a potent new-ball attack alongside Will Byrom.

"There was a lot of discussion before the tournament surrounding my role," he said. "It's nice to… fulfil the expectations. Obviously, it's just good to play a role that's going a long way to helping the team win."

Australia's group matches and first Super Sixes encounter were all played in Namibia before they shifted to Harare for the West Indies match. Their semi-final will be staged in Bulawayo with the final back in Harare should they make it.

"Namibia was almost quite similar to Australia in the decks," Lachmund said. "It was fast, bowler-friendly, quite bouncy. If you bowl balls in the right area, it'll carry through [with] a bit of pace, a bit of bounce.

"Then, obviously, [against West Indies] was vastly different. It was very crumbly, the wicket. You saw spinners proved very effective. There's a lot of difference, a lot of learnings, but it's good to get that difference and understand what's going to be ahead."

Australia came into the tournament on the back of a heavy series defeat to India in Brisbane last September-October where the visitors won the three one-dayers by seven wickets, 51 runs and 167 runs. India then won the two four-day matches by an innings and 58 runs and seven wickets.

Such is the nature of age-group cricket is that there is significant turnover between teams and it was the first time a lot of this cohort had played together. Lachmund was confident the experience will serve them well should they meet India in the knockout stages of this World Cup.

"It was massive, actually, because some of us hadn't played any youth international cricket before," he said. "There were some experienced players there, but it was definitely good to play a team like India because they're obviously the standard across the world in almost all formats of cricket. They're always going to be up there. As we've seen in this tournament, they've proved to be one of the better teams.

"It was just massive because we understood what needed to be done to sort of get to the level that we're at. I'm not saying that we're going to be close to India or anything or going to beat them now, but it's good to kind of understand [how] they go about it. When we play them again, it'll be good to see what we've learnt from that series and the games leading up from the World Cup."