Gill's maiden ton gives India 2-1 lead

India Under-19s 216 for 3 (Gill 138*, Desai 37*, Rawlins 2-30) beat England Under-19s 215 (Rawlins 96, Bartlett 55, Chahar 4-33, Roy 3-39) by seven wickets
Scorecard

Shubman Gill's maiden hundred and an accurate bowling display from India Under-19's bowlers, led by legspinner Rahul Chahar and left-arm spinner Anukul Roy, propped the hosts to a thumping seven-wicket win against England U-19s at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. Chasing 215, India rode on 17-year-old Gill's 157-ball 138, an innings that featured 17 fours and two sixes, to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

Gill began India's chase in sprightly fashion, hitting three boundaries in the first over. England's bowling attack missed the accuracy of Matthew Fisher, who sat out with a niggle, as the openers capitalised on plenty of run-scoring options off their wayward lines. Gill's timing on a slow surface was impeccable. On a quick outfield, all he needed to do was find the gaps. He played the ball discernibly late, a marked improvement from the first two games, where he was dismissed as a result of hard hands through the line. He struck two sixes in his innings, a flat-batted slap over mid-off off a free hit and a pull over square leg.

India raced past 50 in the seventh over, forcing Max Holden, the stand-in captain for Fisher, to turn to spin early. The move worked for England: Delray Rawlins had Himanshu Rana caught behind, edging a cut and Priyam Garg trapped in front off a non-turning delivery. Left-arm spinner Liam Patterson-White, one of three inclusions for England, then had Salman Khan lbw, reducing India to 101 for 3.

Thereafter, Harvik Desai and Gill combined to put on an unbeaten 115-run partnership to ease India home with 35 balls to spare. England's bowling lacked penetration and depth, their lines were inconsistent, and the fielding was substandard. As the afternoon wore on, their frustration grew. Rawlins and Jack Blatherwick were involved in verbal squabbles with Gill, forcing the umpires to intervene.

England's day didn't begin well either. After opting to bat, Holden continued his run of wretched scores on this tour. He was dismissed for eight in the fourth over off fast bowler Heramb Parab. After Henry Brook was caught for 12, George Bartlett and Rawlins, who was promoted to No. 4, were responsible for England's rebuild.

Both batsmen were fluent from the outset. Bartlett in particular, was strong off his wrists, finding the boundary - he hit six fours and a six - with ease on a sluggish pitch. However, as the spinners were introduced and the field spread, Bartlett found run-scoring increasingly tougher. Chahar troubled him by dragging his length back, extracting just enough turn. Bartlett survived a close lbw appeal off Chahar in the 22nd over, and was stumped in the next, attempting to heave a ball he wasn't close to.

Like the rest of the series, Rawlins had no such trouble against the spinners, continually using his feet and cross-batted strokes to push the score along. He hit 11 fours and two sixes - some were bludgeoned, some a result of deft touch. He hit two boundaries in the 43rd over, a six over long-off and a four over midwicket, to move to 96. The next ball, however, he reverse-swept Roy to short third man, missing his second century in three games by a few feet.

Wicketkeeper Ollie Pope missed a cut off a slider and Will Jacks was acrobatically taken by Chahar at midwicket. A score of 171 for 3 quickly turned to 200 for 7 as England's lower order struggled to find fluency against India's spinners. Chahar returned towards the end to pick up three wickets, two of which were stumpings off wild slogs, capping a fine effort in the field.