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U-19: Peng makes Indians pay for fielding lapse

Jan 20, 2001, 18:25 Hrs (IST)

Chennai: Thriving on dropped chances, Durham's Nicky Peng hit a strokeful 132 and skipper Ian Bell chipped in with a useful half century as England made an impressive 286 for three against India at close on the opening day of the second under-19 cricket Test here on Saturday.

Electing to bat, the English batsmen, who were looking to put behind the first Test debacle, came up with a positive approach and collared the mediocre Indian attack, to place themselves in an enviable position. The Indians, on the other hand, looked woefully short of ideas.

Skipper Ajay Ratra's over-reliance on spinners - left-armer Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan, who picked a match haul of 12 wickets in the first Test, and offie Dharmichand - hardly paid any dividends.

Moreover, the fielding was also left a lot to be desired as they grassed four chances, including three for Peng, which proved costly in the end.

The visitors did what was expected of them by the coach Tim Boon -not to repeat the mistakes they did in Mumbai. Using the feet to the spinners and sweeping the ball well, they stuck to the game plan and did not allow the Indian bowlers to dominate on a wicket where the ball came on to the bat nicely.

After seeing off the initial overs, Peng and fellow-opener John Saddler were cruising, adding 57 for the opening wicket. However, Saddler departed on a sad note. Dharmichand failed to hold on to a return catch off a blistering shot by Peng and the ball slipped out of his hands and rolled on to the stumps. Saddler, who was shaping up well, backed up too far and was caught short by at least half a metre.

UNI