- By Namrata Vijay
- Wed, 16 Jul 2025 10:05 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
IND U19 vs ENG U19 1st Youth Test: England U19 skipper Hamza Shaikh played a captain's knock as he scored a brilliant hundred and helped the team end the match in a thrilling tie against India U19 during the first Youth Test on Tuesday. While chasing a target of 350 runs, the hosts were 270/7 in 63 overs and also frustrated the Indian bowlers as they tried to win a match and would have taken a lead of 1-0 during the ongoing series.
Shaikh helped the host put up a fight as he brilliant knock of 112 runs off 140 balls, in which he had smashed 11 fours and two sixes.
He got assistance from Ben Mayes, who too scored 51 runs off 84 balls, and wicket-keeper batter Thomas Rew had also scored a half-century off just 35 balls.
The visitors were on the verge of getting a result as they had rattled the hosts' top-order batting lineup and left them reeling at 62/3 during the 14th over but England made a brilliant comeback on the back of Shaikh's brilliant partnerships with Mayes and Rew.
Towards the fag end of the day, the Men in Blue attempted two consecutive run-outs as they first dismissed Shaikh and then took the wicket of Ekansh Singh.
But Ralphie Elbert (9 not out off 37 balls) and Jack Home (7 not out off 36 balls) performed brilliantly under pressure situations as the Indian bowlers went all guns-blazing.
The close-in fielders gave the batters a hard time as they were standing at two slips, a silly point, and a short leg and thus had formed a tight cordon but the English batters maintained their composure during the last over and ensured that the match ended in a draw.
The Ayush Mhatre-led side started their second innings at 128/3 and had posted a challenging target of 248 runs in 57.4 overs.
Vihaan Malhotra was the highest run-getter as he had scored a gritty knock of 63 runs off 85 balls, in which he had smashed 10 fours.
He along with Abhigyan Kundu were looking in good touch and that's when Alex Green took two wickets and dismissed Rahul Kumar, which made the visitors go from 171/3 to 187/6.
However, the Men in Blue were on the verge of batting collapse as RS Ambrish scored a gritty knock of 53 runs off 71 balls.
He was the last batter to be dismissed and thus the Ayush Mhatre-led side were skittled out for 248 runs.
They had won the five-match Youth ODI series by 3-2.
Brief scores:
India U19 540 & 248 in 57.4 overs vs England U19 439 & 270/7 in 63 overs (Hamza Shaikh 112, Ben Mayes 51, Thomas Rew 50; RS Ambrish 2/48)
Result: Match drawn
[With agency inputs]
