Indian colts score exciting victory to whitewash England
Rayudu steers India Under-19s to thrilling victory
Propelled by a fine unbeaten 177 by opener Ambati Rayudu, India Under-19 registered a narrow one
wicket victory over England Under-19 at Taunton last night to clinch the three-match series 3-0.
Displaying maturity way beyond his age, Rayudu, still three-week short of his 17th birthday, scored his runs off
just 137 balls to enable India to a memorable series whitewash over England.
He flayed the England attack to all parts of the ground and sealed the win that seemed a near impossible task till the last couple of overs.
Chasing a massive 304 for victory, India found themselves languishing at 96 for four and then 135 for six.
However, despite regular loss of wickets at the other end, Rayudu continued to flourish with the bat and eventually
found an ally in Kuldeep Rawat, with whom he added 115 for the seventh wicket which set the stage for the victory.
Even then, England regained control when Tim Bresnan, of Yorkshire, struck twice in three balls. But at 266 for nine with less than six overs remaining, Rayudu was joined by last man Chandrashekar Atram, the hero of India's one-wicket win on Thursday.
While Atram kept his nerve at one end, Rayudu coolly saw his side home, completing the victory when he pulled Kyle Hogg, of Lancashire, over mid-wicket for six.
It was a highly frustrating day for the English colts as, batting first, they had piled up a massive 303 for seven in 50
overs, with the bulk of the scoring made by the openers - Kadeer Ali and Andrew Gale.
The pair added an imperious 201 inside 30 overs, with Ali making a classy 125 in 122 balls, full of flowing drives,
while Gale played an excellent supporting role with 77 from 82 balls.
But England's middle order lost their way completely against the leg-spin of Timil Patel and it took some lusty
blows from Hogg and Phil Mustard to see them past the 300 mark.
Timil Patel was the most successful bowler for India claiming four wickets for 36 runs.
Indian colts had won the first two matches of the series by three wickets and one wicket respectively.
Brief scores:
England: 303 for 7 in 50 overs (Kadeer Ali 125, Gale 77, Hogg 35 n o, Mustard 34, T K Patel 4/36).
India: 306 for 9 in 48.1 overs (Rayudu 177 n o, Rawat 37, Pathan 23, Patel 3/45, Bresnan 2/51).
Mail Cricket Editor
