The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : England wins third game

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Saturday, Feb 12, 2005

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Sport - Cricket

England wins third game

By Our Special Correspondent

KOLKATA, FEB. 11. England tasted its first victory of the series against India in the third under-19 one-day match at the Eden Gardens here on Friday. England won the match by five wickets with four balls to spare. India leads 2-1 in the five-match series.

In fact, it was the visiting team's first victory after it had lost the three-Test series 3-0 and went down 0-2 in the first two ODIs played at Agartala. The fourth ODI would be played here on Saturday.

For the first time in the entire series, the Indian colts were under pressure. Electing to bat, the Indians failed to put up a good score on a good batting pitch and later poor fielding let the team down badly. "Catches win matches," reiterated Indian coach Venkatesh Prasad. Wicketkeeper Sushant Maratha missed three catches and a number of chances went abegging in the outfield.

Ravikant Shukla and A.G. Pradeep added 89 runs for the sixth wicket after India slumped to 72 for five in 22.2 overs. Later another 60-run association for the seventh wicket between Shukla and Piyush Chawla ensured India reached a respectable total of 221 for seven in 50 overs. England's bowling was generally steady with off-spinner Moeen Ali picking up three for 46.

England's reply was strong with the opening pair of Steven Davies and Joseph Denly adding 160 runs in 39.3 overs. This solid foundation enabled the English to launch into attack in the later part of the innings.

Davies' masterly 82 (115b, 8x4) earned him the Man of the Match award while Denly's 71 (126b, 7x4) was the corner stone of the victory. Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla mixed orthodox spin with the googly nicely to pick up three wickets conceding 41 runs.

A surprise was in store for the both team players as former Australian captain Steve Waugh visited the Eden Gardens. In his meeting with some of the Indian boys, Waugh stressed the importance of developing the right attitude towards the game.

Later, speaking to the media he said he did not agree that the Australians got any advantage from the umpires the world over. "I don't think Australia gained any advantage from the umpires. It is true that the Australians bowled better and appealed a lot more with favourable result," he explained. "Australia is the best side in the world and I always loved to captain it," he said. Waugh was in city on an auction-cum-business trip. He is expected to wind up his visit on Saturday.

The scores: India under-19: A. Rawat b Ali 15, S. Marathe b Griffiths 12, G. Dhiman b Ali 16, M. Tewari run out 10, M. Tehlan (run out) 15, R. Shukla c Griffiths b Ali 85, A.G. Pradeep b Denly 34, P. Chawla (not out) 22; Extras (lb-1, w-7, nb-4) 12; Total (for seven wkts, 50 overs) 221.

Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-40, 3-45, 4-70, 5-72, 6-161, 7-221.

England under-19 bowling: Smith 6-1-11-0, Griffiths 7-0-34-1, Miller 6-1-26-0, Ali 10-1-46-3, Lawson 10-1-34-0, Mullaly 5-0-26-0, Denly 6-0-43-1

England under-19: S. Davies b Tewari 82, J. Denly c Tehlan b Chawla 71, W. Gifford lbw b Chawla 2, M. Ali c Marathe b Chawla 0, M. O'Shea (run out) 20, T. Smith (not out) 18, S. Mullaly (not out) 9; Extras: (b-3, lb-5, w-11, nb-1) 20; Total (for five wkts, 49.2 overs) 222.

Fall of wickets: 1-160, 2-162, 3-162, 4-164,5-197.

India under-19 bowling: Dhiman 7-0-23-0, Sharma 7.2-1-24-0, Rajan 8-0-36-0, Nadeem 9-0-48-0, Chawla 9-1-41-3, Tehlan 2-0-9-0, Tewari 7-0-33-1.

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