da cassino： India Under-19 skipper Ajay Ratra won the toss in the first ‘Test’ againstthe England Under-19 and elected to bat at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbaion Tuesday
Waleed Hussain in Mumbai09-Jan-2001India Under-19 skipper Ajay Ratra won the toss in the first ‘Test’ againstthe England Under-19 and elected to bat at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbaion Tuesday. They were bowled out for 257 in 78.5 overs.In reply, England Under-19 openers Nikki Peng (18) and Gary Pratt (4)negotiated the medium pace duo of Nitin Agarwal and Siddarth Trivedi to endthe day at 24 for no loss off 9 overs.Little could Ratra have realised that his decision to bat would not be ahappy outing for the hosts as they were bowled out in two and a halfsessions. Alind Naidu top scored with 83 while skipper Ajay Ratra chippedin with 43. Kyle Hogg bagged three for 33. He was well complimented byJustin Bishop who took three for 24. Andrew McGarry and Monty Panesarpicked up two wickets each.The first session of the day belonged to the English bowlers as theyrestricted the hosts to 101 for four. Justin Bishop and Kyle Hogg took twowickets each in the session swinging the pendulum towards the tourists.The tempo of the game swung both ways during the day. After the bowlersmade their mark in the first session, the post lunch session saw a bravefightback from the Indian middle order batsmen. Ajay Ratra and Alind Naiduput on a face saving 106-run partnership off 183 balls for the sixthwicket. Ratra played second fiddle in the partnership as he was rotatingthe strike regularly. Naidu on the other hand was more aggressive in hisapproach cutting and pulling anthing bowled short at him. He was confidentof his shots and playing them well, before a lapse in concentration causedhim his wicket and a well deserved century.Some late order resistance came in the form of a quickfire innings fromVidhyut Sivaramakrishnan (18 off nine balls). He hit two massive sixes andone four.The hosts could not hold out the English side as they were dismissed on thefirst day. The tourists in reply batted sensibly, playing out the nineovers before stumps were drawn on the first day. Medium pacer SiddarthTrivedi rapped Gary Pratt on the pads with the first ball of the inningsbut the appeal was turned down by umpire SK Sharma. Nikki Peng was the moreaggressive of the two openers and hit three balls to the fence. Peng waslucky to be at the crease as he was dropped in the slips off the bowling ofNitin Agarwal.