England Under-19 need 348 to win first 'Test'

India Under-19 were dismissed shortly before stumps on the third day for 378 off 83.2 overs in the first 'Test' at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai. The tourists were three for no loss in the second innings, needing a further 348 runs for victory.

England Under-19 had been dismissed for 285 in 109.3 overs in the morning session. The visitors added only four more runs before they were bowled out, taking a slender 28-run lead into the second innnings. Vidyuth Sivaramakrishnan took the wicket, that of Monty Panesar. Justin Bishop remained unbeaten.

Indian openers Gautam Gambhir and Vinayak Mane came good in the second innings. Both hammered the medium pacers, piling on 58 runs in 13 overs. Gambhir displayed his explosive strokes in a brief stint at the crease. He could not carry on to convert it into a big knock when he was dismissed off the last ball of the 13th over. Kyle Hogg trapped him leg before for 29.

Mane was lucky as he was dropped three times. Monty Panesar failed to latch on to a mistimed pull shot at mid-on, with Mane on 24, and in the 29th over, Bell dropped Mane in the slips off Pattison. He was finally dismissed for 93 when Hogg held on to a catch off Pattison. He had hit 13 fours and a six in his 99-ball innings.

The first session of the day produced 127 runs for the loss of one wicket in 32 overs. Ishan Ganda and Mane added 70 runs for the second wicket in 19 overs. Ganda was lucky as he was dropped in the 29th over at backward point by Nikki Peng off the medium pace of Pattison. Soon after lunch, Pattison enticed Ganda with a similar delivery and the batsman obliged with a similar stroke but this time Peng held on to the catch. Ganda was dismissed for 19 off 66 balls with one boundary.

Gnaneshwar Rao, a century-maker in his last match, was soon out, trying to drive but succeeding only in returning a catch to Pattison to fall for two runs. The top scorer of the first innings, Alind Naidu came out to bat and unleashed a barrage of wristy strokes. He raced on to 30 off 42 balls with four boundaries. He played two consecutive late cuts despite Bell being in the slips. But he holed out to Bell trying the same stroke on the third occasion.

The visitors enjoyed the tea break as they had both the explosive Naidu and Mane back in the pavilion. The Indian score was 243 for five wickets.

Little did they know that the Indians had other plans. In the post-tea session, skipper Ajay Ratra and Kashinath Khadkikar turned the tide in favour of the hosts with a 141-run partnership off 24.5 overs for the sixth wicket. Ratra dominated as he raced to 94 from 92 balls. The partnership was broken when Khadkikar mistimed a drive to give Robert Ferley a return catch. Khadkikar walked back with 65 runs off 98 balls and seven boundaries to his name.

Ratra became the second batsman to just miss his century when he chased an outswinger from McGarry and Mark Wallace behind the stumps latched on to the catch. Ratra had hit 13 boundaries. The Indian tail wagged as Dharmichand scored 26 runs off 32 balls including two fours. The hosts ended their innings when Siddarth Trivedi was taken by Pattison off Ferley.

Pattison was the most economical bowler, bagging three for 32. Ferley picked up three for 93 with his spinners. McGarry and Kyle Hogg chipped in with two wickets each.

The visitors faced one over from Vidyut and finished on three without loss.

The England fielding had been poor. They dropped as many as six catches during the day. Panesar was guilty of not guarding the fence effectively. In fact, Panesar had a long and hard day in the field as he struggled to gather the ball. The batsmen took on his throwing arm as they collected extra singles off his throws from the boundary.