Prince William, kate Middleton bat in Mumbai for poor Indian kids

MUMBAI: Britain´s Duke and Duchess of Cambridge played a charity cricket match with underprivileged children in Mumbai on Sunday, the first day of a week-long tour of India that will include a trip to the isolated Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan.

Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton flew into India´s financial capital and met children from Magic Bus, Childline and Doorstep – three non-governmental organisations that work with children.

They took an open-top bus tour and played a cricket match with a team from a local cricket academy and kids backed by the three charities.

Kate, in sunglasses and a red, white and blue summer dress, faced a few deliveries from Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar. She struck one ball only to be caught out, leading to a lively exchange between William and the fielders.

The royal couple, travelling without children George and Charlotte, were due to attend a Bollywood-inspired charity gala on Sunday night amid speculation that Kate may appear in a sari from a top Indian fashion designer.

William and Kate´s tour takes in New Delhi, where they will lunch with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a wildlife park in Assam famed for its one-horned rhinos, and Bhutan.

Their tour ends back in India next Saturday at the Taj Mahal, revisiting the scene of a solo – and much photographed – visit in 1992 by William´s mother, the late Princess Diana, to the monument to love.