Bell slams century for England under-19

England under-19 skipper Ian Bell slammed an attractive 109 off 185 balls as his team took a 24-run first innings lead against India under-19 on the second day of the four-day cricket Test at the Wankhede stadium in Bombay on Wednesday.

Resuming at their overnight score of 24 for no loss, England lost their first wicket -- that of Nicky Peng -- at 43. He was run-out for 30 (six fours) in 41 balls.

However, Bell, who was in fine nick, and Gary Pratt (28 off 41 balls) added 64 runs for the second wicket and laid a solid platform for the lower order batsmen to give their team a slight advantage with a score of 281 for nine, off 107 overs at the end of the second day.

Tailenders Justin Bishop, on 13, and Monty Panesar, on one, were at the crease when stumps were drawn.

On day one India, after winning the toss and electing to bat, were all out for 257.

Bell, who was at the wicket for 222 minutes, hit 18 fours. He handled the spinners with aplomb before being sixth out, clean bowled by medium pacer Nitin Agarwal while offering no shot to a good length delivery, when the score was 214.

Among the lower order batsmen Robert Wallace (29) and Kyle Hogg (23) chipped in with useful scores for the visitors.

Left arm spinner Vidyut Shivramakrishnan was the pick of the Indian bowlers. He took three for 83 while Agarwal got two for 55. Off-spinners M Dharmi Chand and Kashinath Khadkikar picked up a wicket each.

Scoreboard

India (1st innings): 257

England (1st innings): (overnight 24 for no loss)
G Pratt c and b v Shivramakrishnan 28
N Peng run out 30
I Bell b N Agarwal 109
K Ali c Naidu b D Chand 11
I Pattison c V Shivramkrishnan 1
M Wallace c Naidu b V Shivramkrishnan 13
R Ferley lbw K Khadkikar 29
K Hogg run out 23
J Bishop batting 13
A McGarry lbw N Agarwal 4
M Panesar batting 1
Extras: (3-b, 2-lb, 14-nb) 19
Total: (for nine wickets off 107 overs) 281
Fall of wickets: 1-43, 2-107, 3-122, 4-134, 5-175, 6-214, 7-259, 8-260, 9-274.
Bowling: S Trivedi 11-3-30-0, N Agarwal 18-3-55-2, M Dharmi Chand 29-9-75-1, V Shivramkrishnan 29-5-83-3, K Khadkikar 11-2-16-1, I Ganda 9-2-17-0.

Mail Cricket Editor