Warwickshire Academy seamer Henry Brookes helped England Under 19s to a superb 23-run victory over their Indian counterparts at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.
Seventeen-year-old Brookes – who plays club cricket for Knowle & Dorridge – made his England Under 19s debut by removing India’s Himanshu Rana for 101 and KL Nagarkoti for 37 to swing the game back the visitors’ way.
Sussex batsman Delray Rawlins was the star of the first innings for England with an unbeaten 107 from 88 balls, as the visitors recovered from a disastrous start to post 256 for seven in their 50 overs.
Rawlins then made a significant contribution in the field, taking two wickets with his left-arm spin and adding a couple of catches, as the Indians were dismissed for 233 – Yorkshire seamer Matt Fisher marking his first game as England captain by claiming four for 41.
England had slumped to 13 for three when Surrey wicketkeeper-batsman Ollie Pope, joined Yorkshire opener Harry Brook to add 85 in 19 overs for the fourth wicket.
Pope went for 37 from 56 balls, and Brook for 51 from 75 – also on his ODI debut for the Under-19s. But Fisher underlined his all-round potential by playing a sensible supporting role to Rawlins in a seventh-wicket stand of 116 in 17 overs, making 26 with a single boundary.
He then ripped out three of India’s top four, including the highly-rated Prithvi Shaw, who recently scored a century on his first-class debut for Mumbai shortly after his 17th birthday.
Rawlins won two lbw decisions and Fisher returned to claim a fourth wicket to leave the Indians on 138 for six. But Shaw’s opening partner Rana remained a major threat, reaching an 87-ball century before the Bears’ Brookes had him caught behind by Pope.
Brookes and Max Holden cleaned up the remaining three wickets to give England a 1-0 lead in the five-match series, which continues at Mumbai’s CCI ground on Wednesday.
