Ferrario hits ton as India U-19 declare

By Paritosh Pramanik
NAGPUR, Feb 15

ALL-ROUNDER Daryl Ferrario (117) hit a composed and responsible century while Sijomon Joseph’s (62*) batted well lower down the order as hosts India Under-19, in an attempt to force a result on the last day, declared their innings at 431 for eight, 70 runs short of England’s 501, one hour before stumps on the third day of the first Youth Test here at Jamtha.
At stumps, England were 23 for one in nine overs, with a total lead of 93 runs. First innings centurion England captain Max Holden was trapped by Kanishk Seth couple of deliveries before the end of day’s play.
Ferrario played a responsible innings and converted his good start into a big score which his other team-mates failed to do. He batted cautiously in his innings on a wicket which had no help for the bowlers. There was not a single lofted shot from Ferrario and he cleverly found gaps in his 221 minutes stay in the middle. He hit 14 carpet-driven fours from 173 balls. The lanky 18-year-old completed his century just before tea pulling spinner Delray Rawlings towards square leg boundary.
“Ferrario played very sensibly. We had partnership but the other guys couldn’t convert it. But Ferrario did it beautifully. It’s good to have someone like him in the team. This innings will be a confidence booster for him,” said bowling coach Paras Mhambrey after the day’s play.
India’s reply of 431 runs to England’s 501 was constructed on Ferrario’s fruitful partnerships with the middle and lower order. After adding 87 with Ravi Inder Thakur, Kerala born Ferrario added another 60 runs with wicketkeeper Suresh Lokeshwar (22) from 86 balls. He then joined hands with Sijomon Joseph to collect 52 runs from 91 
balls. England finally saw the back of Ferrario post tea session 
after Henry Brookes rattled his stumps.
Later, Joseph and Vineet Panwar frustrated England bowlers with their fast paced innings. Joseph completed his half century from 86 balls which had four balls to the fence.
Starting the day at 156 for two, India lost both their overnight batsmen Saurabh Singh (62) and captain Jonty Sidhu (33) quickly. But Ravi Inder Thakur (31) and Ferrario built the innings steadily to take the score past 250-run mark at lunch. 
England’s Liam-Peterson White worked tirelessly under the sun but managed only one wicket from his 37 overs which included a lengthy spell of 18 overs on either side of lunch.
Mhambrey said the declaration was a positive sign for India.
“I think this is a very positive step (of declaring). The wicket is getting a bit slow and it is getting difficult for the bowlers to get wickets. We are trying to make a game out of it. Three sessions are left in this match and if we bundled them out then we have some target to go for,” said Mhambrey.
Brief scores: England U-19: 501 and 23 for 1 (H Brook 15, K Seth 1/8). India U-19: 431-8 decl (D Ferrario 117, A Goswami 66, S Joseph 62*; H Brookes 2/75, L White 2/104, E Woods 2/55).