England under-19 set
351 to win

Captain Ajay Ratra and opener Vinayak Mane missed centuries on Thursday as India under-19 set the England under-19 team a stiff target of 351 for victory on Friday, the concluding day of the four-day Test, at the Wankhede stadium, in Bombay.

The visitors were three for no loss in their second innings at the end of the third day.

Ratra hit 13 boundaries in his total of 94 after coming in at No. 7 and the team total of 186, while Mane stood firm for 154 minutes while compiling 93 in the team's second innings total of 378.

Earlier England, overnight 281 for nine, were all out for 285, which gave them a first innings lead of 28 runs.

India, after a good start of 58 between Mane and Gautam Gambhir, lost Ishan Ganda for 19 and Y G Rao for 2. Then after a brief revival which saw 70 runs being scored, Alind Naidu and Mane left, bringing Ratra and Kashinath Khadkikar. Together they posted a bright stand of 141 off 24.5 overs.

Ratra and Khadkikar played exhilirating cricket, pounding runs all around the wicket. Ratra, who had made 83 in the first outing, got his runs off only 92 balls. Khadikar made 65, which was studded with seven fours.

England's ground fielding was reasonably good, but in the air it was sloppy. They grassed no less than four catches. Mane, who stayed for 154 miutes, with 13 hits to the fence, was dropped on 24 and 72 while Khadkikar was given life on 49. In the end, M Dharmichand used the long handle to make 27.

Spinners Ian Pattison and Robert Ferley grabbed three wickets apiece at the cost of 32 and 93 runs respectively.

Scoreboard

India (1st innings): 257

England (1st innings): 285

India (2nd innings):
G Gambhir lbw Hogg 29
V Mane c Hogg b Pattison 93
I Ganda c Peng b Pattison 19
Y Rao c & b Pattison 2
A Naidu c Bell b Hogg 30
K Khadkikar c and b Ferly 65
A Ratra c Wallace b McGarry 94
V Shivaramkrisnan c Kadior b Ferly 2
M Dharmichand c Bell b McGarry 26
S Trivedi c Pattison b Ferly 7
N Agarwal not out 9
Extras ( lb 7, nb 2): 9
Total (off 83.2 overs): 378.
Fall of wicket: 1-58, 2-128, 3-144, 4-153, 5-186, 6-327, 8-344, 9-372
Bowling: McGarry 11-3-49-2, Bishop 11-1-53-0, Hogg 14-1-56-2, Pattison 10-1-32-3, Ferley 19.2-1-93-3, Panesar 15-0-71-0, Bell 3-0-17-0.

England (2nd innings):
G Pratt (batting) 3
N Peng (batting) 0
Total: (for no loss) 3
Bowling: V Shivramakrishnan 1-0-3-0.

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