Indian colts pass the 145;Test146;

England colts8217; moments of glory were limited to the odd flashy strokes played by their less than convincing batsmen as the visitors cra...

England colts8217; moments of glory were limited to the odd flashy strokes played by their less than convincing batsmen as the visitors crashed to a 293-run defeat against India on the third day of the first 8216;Test8217; at the M. Chinnswamy Stadium here on Sunday.

Chasing an improbable target of 423, England U-19 did not have any clue about the guiles of Indian spinners and were bundled out for 129. Their second innings8217; performance also underlined the fact that they had not made progress of any sorts in playing in the sub-continental conditions and will have to find a way to tackle these before the 2nd 8216;Test8217; in Kolkata on January 27.

Joseph Densley, who looked most capable of playing in these conditions with his tight defence and nimble footwork, was a victim of over caution. He plodded for more than an hour and a half for his 24 and just when he appeared set, the Kent batsman selected a wrong delivery to display his prowess in driving. A sharply spun delivery from off-spinner Harvinder Singh beat Densley8217;s drive and, taking an inside edge, rattled the stumps.

Ben Harmisson and Mitchell Stockes perished while taking chances once too often. Harmisson looked in good touch and employed the sweep shot to great effect. He paired with Densley for a 58 runs fourth wicket stance. But the lanky all-rounder8217;s attempt to rock back and cut against Harvinder resulted in him missing the line completely.

After left-arm spinner Avinash Yadav and Harvinder polished off the top and middle order, Bengal leg-spinner Manoj Tiwari mopped up the tail with a five-wicket haul. He snuffed out England8217;s hopes by dismissing Moeen Ali and Thomas Smith in quick succession to push England to a precarious 87 for 7. Ali top- edged a sweep to stumper Pinal Shah while Smith8217;s tentative push was gobbled up by Faiz Fazal. Only some lusty blows by Stockes carried them past the three-figure mark.

Brief scores

India U-19: 334 and 200 /4 declared A. Rayudu 58, M. Tiwary n.o 50 bt England U-19: 112 and 129 B. Harmisson 33, M. Tiwari 5/33, Avinash Yadav 3/16, Harvinder 2/45