The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Sumit Sharma misses century

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Thursday, Aug 10, 2006

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Sport - Cricket

Sumit Sharma misses century

London: Punjab teenager Sumit Sharma fell one short of a century as the Indian colts made an attempt for victory in the third four-day cricket match against England under-19 at Shenley on Tuesday.

Sharma was unlucky to be dismissed on 99 but his stellar knock helped his team declare its second innings at 293 for seven in 75.3 overs and set the host a huge target of 447 at the Denis Compton ground. Sharma cracked ten 4s and two 6s while facing 142 balls.

Parvez Aziz, a left-hand bat from Guwahati, made 65. Delhi's Virat Kohli scored 46 and shared a 67-run stand with Sharma as the two led India's recovery from a precarious 69 for three.

At the end of penultimate day's play, the host was 76 for two.

Captain Vikram Chopra was the batsman to be dismissed, caught by Omkar Gurav off Shahbaz Nadeem for 28.

Earlier, the Indians did not waste much time in claiming England's remaining four first-innings wickets, to bowl it all out for a modest 261 and amass a 153-run first innings lead.

Abu Nechim sliced through the England tail to return with four for 59 while Ishan Sharma bagged two for 66.

Rory Hamilton-Brown stood tall amidst the ruins with an unbeaten 81.

The scores: India under-19: 414 and 293 for seven decl. (S. Sharma 99, V. Kohli 46, P. Aziz 65) vs England under-19: 261 and 76 for two. — PTI