Rew, Ekansh battle back for England after India's flying start
Openers rolled for ducks before England battle back on rain-affected day at Chelmsford
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20-Jul-2025 • 19 hrs ago
Thomas Rew's half-century helped revive England Under-19s • Gallo Images
England Under-19 229 for 7 (Ekansh 66*, Rew 59) vs India Under-19
Half-centuries by skipper Thomas Rew and Ekansh Singh spearheaded England's fightback after slumping to 46 for four on a rain-affected opening day of their second Youth Test against India.
Inserted in bowler-friendly conditions at Chelmsford, the home side lost openers Ben Dawkins and Adam Thomas for ducks and struggled until an elongated evening session, when they scurried along to reach 229 for seven.
Ben Mayes began England's recovery before Somerset's Rew - leading a reshuffled side in place of Hamza Sheikh - struck 59, sharing a sixth-wicket partnership of 90 with Kent all-rounder Singh, who remained unbeaten on 66 at stumps.
India seamers Aditya Rawat and RS Ambrish captured two wickets apiece, with another two falling to spinner Naman Pushpak in the final session as the tourists sped up their pedestrian over-rate.
With the start delayed by morning rain and a gloomy grey blanket of cloud hovering above the ground, it was little surprise that India opted to give their seamers first crack under the floodlights.
That decision was quickly justified, with the first delivery of the match from Rawat pinning Dawkins leg before and Thomas lasting just one additional ball before he fell to Henil Patel in identical fashion.
Another ball from Rawat almost cut Aaryan Sawant in half, while Rocky Flintoff edged just wide of the slips on nought, but the pair withstood a testing spell and pierced the off-side field for a couple of boundaries apiece.
They advanced England's total to 18 for two before the rain returned - but, with the players warming up ahead of a post-lunch restart, a further downpour prompted the groundstaff to cover the square again.
Play eventually resumed at 3.15pm, with the consistent Rawat getting the ball to swing both ways and he gained some reward by tempting Flintoff into the drive, with Vihaan Malhotra diving low to clasp a fine catch at second slip.
Sawant's gritty knock of 20 was ended by another slip catch for Malhotra, but Mayes took the battle to India's bowlers, launching his innings with a thunderous square cut for four off Rawat.
Pulling and driving with power, Mayes progressed to 31 after tea - only to perish wafting at a loose ball from Ambrish after he and Rew had laid the foundations of an England fightback with their partnership of 34.
Despite an uncertain start, when he survived a couple of edges just out of reach of the slips, Rew began to flourish in the wake of Mayes' departure, cutting Ambrish to the fence to lift his side's score beyond three figures.
The England captain targeted leg-spinner Pushpak, whose first two overs cost him 20, while Singh arrived at the party in style, sweeping Kanishk Chauhan for six and combining power with some wristy strokeplay.
Pushpak took his revenge on Rew, returning for a second spell to have him caught at slip off the googly, but Singh progressed to 50 from just 53 balls and, with the help of Ralphie Albert (16) and James Minto (18 not out), kept England in contention for a competitive total.
