Deepak Chougule's 97 the only joy of the day

The touring England under-19s had nothing to cheer about at the end of the first day's play in the warm-up match against South Zone under-19s, played at Guru Nanak College Ground, Chennai on Monday. The touring party took this as an opportunity to give some of their boys a go. Ample reasons why one felt that the focus was not there. For most of the day, the bowling was pedestrian and the fielding a let down. Dropped catches and fielding lapses might be a cause of worry for The Management, given the fact that they have to start playing their second 'Test' against India this weekend. South Zone colts also did not give good account of themselves; their batting never really bloomed on a harmless track.

The setting was perfect, clear blue skies, brilliant sunshine and the ground looking pretty with all the trees around. Electing to bat first after winning the toss South Zone opening batsman Tirumal Setti Suman took 10 runs off the very first over bowled by Chris Tremlett; two boundaries flying over the slip fielders into the third-man fence. Suman did no favor to Nadeem Malik smashing him for three boundaries in the fourth over of the day. The fifth over brought some joy to the English colts, when Tremlett had Shashank Nag caught behind by Mark Wallace for just two runs.

31/1 and Malik's third over also saw Suman striking three boundaries, an explosive start indeed. Kyle Hogg was brought in from the pavilion end to replace the expensive Malik and immediately found his rhythm. Monty Panesar dropped Suman off the bowling of Hogg, but could not make most of it. Hogg soon had Suman caught and bowled, the ball bouncing more than the batsman expected and all he could do was to pop the ball back to the bowler for an easy catch. Suman's entertaining innings of 42 came off just 34 balls, which included 9 strokes past the ropes.

The fall of Suman brought Deepak Chougule to the crease. Chougule was the toast of the day for South Zone scoring 97 runs off 179 balls. Chougule who is short in stature and does not have the height of many of the English players, stood tall on a day when South batsman failed to apply themselves. The batting was ineffective on a docile pitch, which had nothing to offer to the bowlers.

Chougule holds the junior world record for the maximum runs scored in a day, 400 not out against Goa in the 1996/97 season, playing for Karnataka Under-13. Chougule kept working hard as batsmen at the other end kept falling. South Zone lost two more wickets before lunch. Ian Pattison removed captain Arjun Yadav for 10 caught brilliantly by Kadeer Ali at point. The next ball saw the new batsman ASK Varma dropped by John Sadler at slip. Pattison had reasons to rejoice his second wicket when Robert Ferley took a good catch in the covers to dismiss Varma for just one.

English colts were in a strong position after reducing the hosts to 62/4. The new batsman Vijay Sai Suri was distinctly lucky early on to survive a vociferous appeal for LBW off the bowling of Pattison, without offering a stroke. The visitors let the game drift on for a while and the lunchtime score was 129/4 in 38 overs. Chougule took his own time and was unbeaten on 50.

The post lunch session started on a sad note for the visitors. Chougule was dropped twice on 52; Gordon Muchall dropped him at point and John Sadler floored a chance in the slips. Chougule and Suri put on 134 for the fifth wicket as English colts relied on medium pacers. The 22nd over after lunch saw the introduction of left arm spin of Ferley. Success followed immediately as Ferley dismissed Suri, caught by Nicky Peng running to the leg-slip from the first slip as the batsman top edged a sweep shot. Suri made 44 off 136 balls with five boundaries. A little before Tea break Chougule was deceived by the guiles of Panesar, drawing the batsman forward and getting the ball to turn and kiss the edge of the bat, Peng gleefully accepted the catch at first slip. Chougule was at the crease for 238 minutes facing 179 balls, striking 12 boundaries in his innings of 97.

211 for 6 at Tea, England failed to force the issue. Ferley who impressed with his spin bowling had Mohd Faiq caught by Kadeer Ali at silly point for 23 in the 82nd over. The second new ball was taken in the 83rd over and there was no success at all. Malik who had a miserable spell with the first new ball came back with the second, picking up the wicket of Taher Hussain caught by substitute fielder Justin Bishop for 26. At close of play South Zone were 275/8 with Steve Lazarus and Shankara Rao on 15 and 5 respectively. Pattison and Ferley shared the bowling honours with a couple of wickets apiece.