India Under-19 slump to defeat against England U-19 in Tri-Series

After comprehensively winning their first two matches, the Indian U-19 team hit a mini roadblock at Cheltenham on Friday, as they slumped to a five-wicket defeat at the hands of hosts England. However, despite the loss, thanks to their dominating performances in the first two matches, India still find themselves at the top of the table. 

Batting first on a good wicket, India lost opener Qamran Iqbal for just nine runs, before the duo of Tilak Varma (47) and Divyansh Saxena (51) strung together a 52-run partnership to steady things for the hosts. But the duo were sent back to the hut in quick succession soon after, and India found themselves in a position of bother at 107-3. Skipper Priyam Garg (13) and Sameer Rizvi (28) both failed to convert their starts, but handy cameos from Shubhang Hegde (32*) and Karan Lal (31*) propelled the visitors to a fighting total of 256-6 in 50 overs. 

In response, Ben Charlesworth (52) and Jack Haynes (89) helped England blitz their way to 135-1 and the hosts looked all set to stroll to victory. However, a triple strike from Hegde put England U-19 in a spot of bother at 198-5, but they eventually crossed the line thanks to cameos from George Hill (41*) and Kasey Aldrige (29*), helping England beat India by five wickets.

Despite the result, the position of both the teams on the points table remains unchanged. India will next take on Bangladesh U-19 on Saturday in the fifth match of the tournament.