Dharmichand hastens England's decline

By Our Special Correspondent

MUMBAI, JAN. 4. England's under-19 coach Tim Boon was thoroughly pleased with the first three quarter of an hour's play at the Middle Income Group (MIG) Club ground on Thursday.

``What a beautiful ground,'' he said as the two left- handers, John Sadler and Gary Pratt, drove the over-pitched deliveries, cut and pulled the short ones. It was a perfect start for the visitors, the lush green and fast outfield, presenting a familiar setting for them.

But the moment offspinner Mulewa Dharmichand took charge of the bowling at one end, made the ball turn and bounce, it was altogether a different ball game. England, after making a smart and speedy start, declined from 72 for no loss to 210 all out; Dharmichand's share of the spoils being five for 65 in the 25 overs he sent down.

In reply, Rest made 47 runs for the loss of two wickets to left hand seamer Justin Bishop.

After scoring a 58-run win over West Zone in the warm up match in Pune, the England under-19 players worked out at the hotel gym and spent two hours at the National Park on Wednesday afternoon, not really bothering to visit the match venue a couple of miles away from their hotel. They were in for a surprise when they reached the venue at North Mumbai. The venue where Mumbai and Baroda played a Ranji Trophy match recently received praise from Boon. Captain Ian Bell did the next best thing; he won the toss and elected to bat.

And in ten overs openers Sadler and Pratt, who could be identified only by their measure of their body and the bats they were using, were rollicking at six an over. Right hand medium pacer Gagandeep Singh and left hand medium pacer, Steve Lazuras conceded 61 runs in ten overs. The advent of Dharmichand, who came into this match with a big haul of 44 wickets in six Cooch Behar Trophy matches for Karnataka and with a newly gained reputation, produced a breakthrough. He dismissed Sadler, who had struck five boundaries.

Skipper Kashinath Khadkikar gave a short spell of six overs to seamer Maninder Singh who dismissed captain Bell. This was a big wicket for Rest, but soon Khadkikar opted for a double spin attack; he ushered in left hand spinner Tushar Saha from Tripura. He had Kadeer Ali driving to Das at cover and then later in the day picked up the important wicket of Pratt who had looked quite impressive in making 78 in 142 minutes. He struck fifteen fours.

The visitors' batting was distinctly pedestrian against spin, the result of which was a drastic fall in the run rate. In the first two and hours England under-19 made 139 in 37 overs and lost four wickets; in the second session of two hours, they made 70 runs in 38 overs and lost four more, Ian Pattison's 39 being the second highest after Pratt's half century. Seven minutes after tea England under-19 was bowled out, spinners in Dharmichand, Saha and Khadkikar (offspin) taking nine wickets between them.

Andrew McGarry and Justin Bishop bowled lively spells before skipper captain Bell introduced Monty Panesar, one of the three Asians in the England team, and who learned quick lessons on the nuance of left hand spin from Hanumant Singh in the second floor of the MIG Club House. Opener Gagan Inder Singh and Khadkikar have made 20 runs after the fall Mohnish Mishra miscued a hook to Kadeer Ali at short leg. Twelve wickets fell on the first day and a possibility of a result in the next twelve hours on Friday and Saturday seems a likely happening before the first Test starting on Tuesday, January 9.

The scores:

England under-19-1st innings: J. Sadler c Khadkikar b Dharmichand 24, G. Pratt c Dharmichand b Saha 78, I. Bell c Patel b Maninder 3, Kadeer Ali c Das b Saha 19, I. Pattison St. Patel b Khadkikar 39, C. Muchall c Gagandeep Singh b Dharmichand 4, M. Wallace b Dharmichand 13, R. Ferley c Rao b Dharmichand 0, J. Bishop c Patel b Dharmichand 7, A. McGarry not out 1, M. Panesar c Gagan Inder b Khadkikar 0, Extras (b 4, lb 15, nb 3) 22, Total (in 76.4 overs) 210.

Fall of wkts: 1-72, 2-79, 3-127, 4-134,5-155, 6-187, 7-188, 8- 208, 9-209.

Rest of India under-19 bowling: Gagandeep Singh 6-1-29-0, Steve Lazuras 4-0-32-0, Dharmichand 25-7-65-5, Maninder Singh 6-0-16-1, Tushar Saha 17-8- 28-2, Khadkikar 17.4-8-20-2, Rao 1-0-1-0.

Rest of India under-19-1st Innings): A. Das c Sadler b Bishop 4, Gagan Inder Singh (batting) 29, Mohnish Mishra c Kadeer Ali b Bishop 1, K. Khadkikar (batting) 8, Extras (lb 1, nb 4) 5, Total (for 2 wkts in 18 overs) 47.

Fall of wkts: 1-7, 2-27

England under-19 bowling: McGarry 6-1-21-0, Bishop 6-1-12-2, Pattison 2-0-8-0, Panesar 3-2-1-0, Ferley 1-0-4-0.

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