India Under-19s tied the third one-day game against England Under-19s and won the series 3-1. Chasing 227 in the fifth one-day at the Wankhede stadium, S Radhakrishnan kept India in the chase with a patiently compiled 65 off 93. And after a middle-order collapse, Ayush Jamwal and Yash Thakur lower down the order helped take the match to the visitors with a determined performance. Jamwal who made 38 off 40 had earlier picked three wickets in an effort to restrict England to a competitive score.
After electing to field, Ishan Porel forced an edge from Harry Brook to the wicketkeeper to give India their first breakthrough with 15 runs on the board. Yash Thakur then followed up with the wicket of Tom Banton to leave England on 37 for two. India continued to work to keep the opposition in check. The in-form England batsman, Delray Rawlins was the next to be sent back by Hermab Parab.
George Bartlett then found an ally in Ollie Pope to build a partnership. The pair added 50 for the fourth wicket until Shiva Singh struck to end the stand. The bowler had Bartlett trapped lbw three runs short of a half-century. Jamwal then followed up with the wicket of Max Holden.
The wicketkeeper batsman forged a partnership with Will Jacks. The blossoming stand was worth 55 when Mayank Rawat drew out Jacks and had him stumped while Jamwal dislodged Pope’s bails six runs later to leave England on 182 for seven. In his next over he trapped Liam Patterson-White lbw.
Speaking about their plan to keep the England batsmen from scoring, Jamwal said, “Since the wicket was flat it was a bit difficult to curb the scoring. The plan was to try and curb the flow of runs so that they will lose their patience and wickets will fall. We stuck to that and got the wickets.”
“We had assessed the England players and planned accordingly before coming into the game. If you restrict the flow of runs they try to do something or the other and so we had planned to dry up the flow of runs,” the off-spinner added.
“Shiva (Singh) and I bowled tight spells and restricted them from both ends. They went for the charge and they lost their patience and wickets fell,” he added.
After taking England to 202, Henry Brookes returned to the pavilion for 12. Arthur Godsal and Jack Blatherwick then set India a 227-run target with a unbroken 24-run stand.
Chasing the respectable total, Priyam Garg departed handing a catch to short midwicket with just one run on the board. And captain Abhishek Sharma nicked Blatherwick to the slips and left India on the backfoot.
Radhakrishnan then held up one end and forged useful partnerships to keep India in the match. He built a 32-run stand with opener Manjot Kalra to keep the innings afloat until the opener was done in by the short ball. Mayank Rawat followed him back four runs later leaving India on 54 for four.
Radhakrishnan then stitched a 47-run partnership with Het Patel to keep the innings in the fray until the wicketkeeper batsman stepped out to Rawlins and found himself stumped. The No 4 bat, however continued to stoically hold up one end. Speaking about his batting, he said, “The wicket was very slow to bat on initially. When I went in we had lost two early wickets so my job was to just anchor the innings from one end and make sure that the strike was being rotated.”
“I just thought of playing every ball and get a single and besides that the plan was to get four runs per over so that the target would be very easy to achieve,” he explained. Continuing to play as per the plan he added 36 runs with Shiva Singh at the other end until the lower-order bat handed a catch to mid-off off Brookes. In the next over, Radhakrishnan’s miscued hit towards deep midwicket was caught by Brook. “It was a loose ball, I just thought of hitting it flat over midwicket but it went straight to the fielder,” he said later.
That left India on 137 for seven with two new batsmen at the crease. However, undeterred, Jamwal forged a solid 65-run stand with Thakur to take the game to the opposition.
While Jamwal took on the bowlers, Thakur held up one end and rotated the strike. “I told him that I will go for the hits, you hold up one end and I will take it further. I just needed his support and he did that well and we could stretch it to the end.
“It was a tough situation because the set batsman was out and I was batting with a tail-ender. But I had faith in him and me that we will get us through. But unfortunately I gave away my wicket. It was sad for me but I felt Yash would get us through. But it is okay. (the match was tied),” Jamwal said later while speaking about the stand.
Thakur then carried the innings forward with Ishan Porel until he was out in the penultimate over with the match going down the wire.
Porel then strived to attain the target with Parab and the pair had leveled scores. However, with the winning required off the last ball, the No 10 bat handed a catch to mid-off.
Reflecting on the tied encounter, Jamwal said, “It was a big situation for me and the team had to tie the game. It is a big thing for me. I learnt a lot from this game. Rahul sir has been telling us to try and take the match to the end so that we can win. We tried to do that today."
