Indians begin campaign with 81 run loss to hosts

A little confidence is always a good thing for a young cricketer. When India won every match they played in the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Under-15 Tournament in Malaysia they must have gained more than a little confidence. Speaking to CricInfo at Chennai just before leaving for the tournament in Malaysia, the Indian coach Roger Binny said "A large part of my job is to bring the boys together and motivate them. I have to make them believe in themselves, to give them confidence." Well, after hosts England thumped them by 81 runs in their opening match of the Costcutter Challenge 2000 Under-15 World Cup they will have to work hard to regain confidence.

At the Eton College Ground, England captain Tom New won the toss and chose to bat first. Although off spinner Panav Raju snared the first England wicket with 11 on the board and soon after a run out reduced England to 12/2 there was no real cause for worry. James Hildreth and Samit Patel then applied themselves in a mature manner and batted England to a position of safety. In a century stand that saw Hildreth (57) and Patel (58) reach half centuries, the balance swung England's way.

After the stage was set by these two batsmen, Tim Rees took full advantage and made a breezy 39 that included one effortless six over mid wicket. Bolstered by these performances and some useful contributions by the lower middle order, England mustered up a challenging total of 246.

In their easy victory at the ACC Under-15 Tournament in Malaysia, the Indians never had to chase such an imposing total. Perhaps the fact that all their victories in the past came with consummate ease left them a bit underprepared. Another factor that will play a big role in this tournament is the fact that the Indians are hardly used to the conditions that are prevalent in England. They play most of their cricket on flat batting tracks in the sub continent where the ball does very little in the air or off the wicket.

England on the other hand are well accustomed to the playing conditions and used this to good advantage, bundling the Indians out for 164. Apart from Ambati Tirupati Rayudu (34) who has been among the runs in the recent past and Sushil Kumar (28) none of the Indians managed to stay at the wicket long enough to make a difference. Ironically it was spinner Dan Broadbent (3/23) who started the rot, claiming the wickets of Rayudu, Kumar and Palash Jothi Das - the mainstay of the Indian batting. With the cream of the batting back in the pavilion, there was little the Indians could offer in the form of resistance. With no other batsman reaching 20, India were dismissed in 46 overs. The tail succumbed meekly to the pace of Chris Goode who ended with figures of 4/22.