The India Under-19 team took a 2-1 series lead in the five-match youth One-Day International series against England with a comfortable seven-wicket win at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Friday.
Chasing a modest target of 216, Indian opener Shubman Gill struck a fluent unbeaten 158 to take his side home with 29 balls to spare. England batsmen succumbed to the spin attack of Rahul Chahar (4/33) and Anukul Roy (3/39).
After electing to bat first, England lost two early wickets, but the prolific Delray Rawlins (96) and George Bartlett (55) oversaw the visitors’ comeback with a gritty 84-run stand for the third wicket. The English middle-order collapsed meekly to the Chahar-Roy duo while Rawlins yet again waged a lone battle, falling short of a second hundred in the series by four runs.
Gill led the chase with authority and scored a bulk of the runs. All hopes of an England fightback ended with Gill and Harvik Desai’s fourth wicket stand of 115, which took their side home. Without all-rounder Matthew Fisher, England were unable to forge regular breakthroughs and it was Rawlins who threatened with the ball with his part-timers.
Brief scores:
England 215 in 49 overs (Delray Rawlins 96, George Bartlett 55; Rahul Chahar 4/33, Anukul Roy 3/39) lost to India 216/3 in 44.1 overs (Shubman Gill 138 not out, Harvik Desai 37 not out; Delray Rawlins 2/30) by 7 wickets