Patterson-White delivers tie with last-ball wicket

A see-saw contest, in which ball dominated bat, came down to the final ball. India Under-19s required one run with one wicket in hand. With the field in, left-arm spinner Liam Patterson-White tossed the last ball up and No. 10 Ishan Porel chipped a catch to short cover, resulting in a thrilling tie at the Wankhede Stadium to end the five-match series.

With six required off the last over, No. 11 Heramb Parab played out two dot balls, then scythed a boundary in front of point. A dot ball and a single to deep midwicket off the next two deliveries meant India couldn't lose.

In a game of fine margins, the difference may have been the one run that Porel didn't complete when turning for a second leg-bye in the penultimate over. Henry Brookes produced figures of 3 for 30 in a disciplined spell of fast bowling.

Defending 226, England's seamers learnt from their mistakes in the previous game. On a green surface, they resisted bowling short, choosing a good length or a fuller length instead. With some lateral movement and bounce on offer, they extracted enough to trouble India's top order, repeatedly beating batsmen on the outside edge.

Priyam Garg popped a catch to short midwicket in the first over, closing his bat face too early. Abhishek Sharma was caught at slip, driving loosely away from his body. In the 12th over, Manjot Kalra slapped a drive to cover, off Arthur Godsal, where Tom Banton took a sharp reverse-cupped catch. In his next over, Godsal had Mayank Rawat caught down the leg side, gloving a pull. India were reduced to 54 for 4 at this stage.

S Radhakrishnan, one of nine inclusions for India, was loose outside the off stump early. He gradually gained fluency as his innings progressed, though. He struck a few well-timed drives and was strong on the pull. When on 65, Radhakrishnan chipped a catch to deep midwicket off Delray Rawlins. India slumped to 137 for 7, and it seemed like the game was out of reach. "I felt like the game had gone," India U-19 coach Rahul Dravid said after the match.

Ayush Jamwal and Yash Thakur then combined to add 65 for the eighth wicket to accentuate England's frustration, taking India close enough to the target. After Jamwal was caught at fine leg, India still needed 25 off 20 balls. Delray Rawlins, Arthur Godsal and Jack Blatherwick picked up two wickets each.

After being inserted, England's top order failed to capitalise on starts, much like the rest of the series. Harry Brook (14), Tom Banton (16) and Rawlins (17) were all dismissed by India's seamers as England crawled to 64 for 3 in the 17th over.

Again, the rebuilding work was left to George Bartlett and Ollie Pope. While Pope was more circumspect against a decent attack, Bartlett repeatedly found the boundary off the seamers.

All five wickets taken by India's spinners were a result of England's batsmen playing for turn that wasn't there. Bartlett hit two sixes during his 47 before he missed a straight one from left-arm spinner Shiva Singh. Stand-in captain Max Holden was caught at slip, playing inside the line of a delivery from Jamwal.

Will Jacks, who struck 28 off 34 balls with two fours and a huge six over midwicket, missed a non-turning offbreak from Mayank Rawat, and was stumped. Pope was bowled attempting to cut a slider and Liam Patterson-White was pinned in front after missing a sweep. At that stage, England had been reduced to 187 for 8 after 43 overs.

However, some handy lower-order cameos propped up England towards the end. Godsal, who hit an unbeaten 19, should have been run-out at the striker's end, attempting to complete a second run but a fielder had blocked the umpire's view trying to back up the throw.