Pratt slams unbeaten century

Propelled by an elegant unbeaten 114 by Gary Pratt, England piled 256 for 4 on the opening day of the third and final under-19 cricket Test against India at Lal Bahadur staduim in Hyderabad on Saturday.

Pratt, joining skipper Ian Bell after the openers were dimissed by A Mishra for 66, dominated the day's proceedings and registered a 102-run partnership for the third wicket.

He toyed with the Indian bowlers during his unfinished essay off 194 balls and scored runs with a flourish, lofting spinner Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan over long on and punishing Amit Mishra by scoring a second six over long off.

Pratt, who scored 28 and 66 in the first Test at Bombay, had 13 fours in his total of 114.

Playing the role of anchor, English skipper Ian Bell rotated the strike and in the process scored 46 off 132 balls including six fours before being traped leg before wicket by Dharmichand in the dying moments of the game.

At stumps, Pratt (144) and J Bishop (1) were at the crease.

Earlier, electing to bat, the English opening pair of John Sadlar (22) and Nickey Peng (24) negotiated the meduim pacers with ease, but both fell to A Mishra with the score reading 66.

For India, A Mishra claimed 2 for 75 while Nitin Aggarwal and Dharmichand picked up one wicket each.

Scoreboard

England:
Sadler C Ratra B Mishra 22
Nickey Peng C Ishan Ganda B Mishra 24
Ian Bell LBW Dharmichand 46
Gary Pratt batting 114
Gordan Muchall C Ishan Ganda B N Agarwal 36
J Bishop batting 1
Extras (LB-4, NB-9) 13
Total (for 4 wickets in 94 overs) 256
Fall of wickets: 1-41, 2-60, 3-168, 4-249
Bowling: Maninder Singh 11-4-20-0, Nitin Agarwal 10-3-35-1, Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan 30-8-80-0, A Mishra 23-4-75-2, Dharmichand 18-8-36-1, Ishan Ganda 2-1-6-0.

Mail Cricket Editor