Rocky Flintoff, son of former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, continued his red-hot form in Under-19 cricket with a gritty 93 in the first Youth Test against India at Beckenham.
Flintoff arrived at the crease after England had slipped to 37-2, losing openers Archie Vaughan (2) and Jaydn Denly (27) cheaply. He was given an early reprieve on 25 when he pulled Deepesh Devendran straight to Rahul Kumar, who dropped a chest-high catch. He made the most of the lifeline, reaching his fifty after tea with a streaky boundary against spinner Mohamed Enaan off a top edge. The milestone came off his 70th ball of the innings.
Flintoff dug deep after his half-century, batting for another 82 deliveries. However, luck deserted him just seven runs short of a century, as he fell about five minutes before the close of play. Coincidentally, it was Devendran who trapped him lbw this time, ending Flintoff’s innings that included 14 fours and a six.
Also read: Rocky Flintoff rescues England Lions with counter-attacking hundred from No.9
Flintoff stitched together a 154-run stand with captain Hamza Shaikh, who scored 84 off 134 before falling to 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi. Despite Flintoff’s heroics, England found themselves in a spot of bother at 230-5 in reply to India’s first-innings total of 540, which was headlined by a maiden Youth Test century on debut from Ayush Mhatre.
1st Youth Test, England Under-19 vs India Under-19
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This was Flintoff’s second fifty-plus score in his first three Under-19 Test innings, having made debuted against Sri Lanka Under-19 last year. After scoring just nine in his first match, he had bounced back with 106 at Cheltenham against the same opposition.
In the preceding five-match Youth ODI series against India, which England lost 2-3, Flintoff struck his maiden U19 ODI century – a 91-ball 107 in the fourth match, though it came in a losing cause.
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