June 1: With the help of Tom Haynes’ century and Max Holden’s half-century, England Lions have scored 237 runs for two wickets till the end of the day’s play in the first innings on the second day of the unofficial Test match against India A. England Lions’ team is currently trailing India A by 320 runs. At the time of stumps, Haynes was present at the crease with 103 runs and Holden with 64 runs. So far, Anshul Kamboj and Harsh Dubey have got one wicket each for India.
Haynes-Holden’s brilliant partnership
Earlier, with the help of Karun Nair’s double century and half-centuries from Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan, India A scored 557 runs in the first innings against England Lions. In response, England Lions did not have a good start and India got the first success when Anshul Kamboj dismissed Ben McNee who was dismissed after scoring 16 runs. After this, Haynes along with Emilio Gay shared a 109-run partnership for the second wicket and handled the innings of England Lions. However, Harsh broke this partnership by dismissing Emilio. Emilio was dismissed after scoring 46 runs off 90 balls with the help of eight fours. Then Haynes and Holden took the innings forward and did not let India A bowlers get any success till the end of the day’s play. So far, there has been a partnership of 106 runs for the third wicket between Haynes and Holden.
Jurel missed century
In this match, England Lions won the toss and chose to bowl first, but Karun, Jurel and Sarfaraz batted brilliantly and took India to a big score. Karun, who was making a comeback after seven years, batted strongly. India A scored 409 runs for three wickets on the first day, but on the second day India A’s innings was all out after lunch. India got the fourth blow on the second day in the form of Jurel who missed the century. Jurel was dismissed after scoring 94 runs off 120 balls with the help of 11 fours and a six. There was a 195-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Jurel and Karun which was broken by Ajit Dale. Nitish Kumar Reddy could not impress and was dismissed after scoring seven runs. Karun, however, continued to bat brilliantly and completed a double century off 272 balls.
The innings faltered after Karun was out
Karun Nair was dismissed after scoring a double century. Karun was dismissed after scoring 204 runs off 281 balls with the help of 26 fours and a six. After Karun was dismissed, Shardul Thakur also returned to the pavilion after scoring 27 runs. The Indian innings faltered after Karun returned to the pavilion. India A had scored 533 runs for seven wickets at the lunch break. However, in the second session, England Lions bowlers made a comeback and took the remaining three wickets of India A soon.
For India A, Harsh Dubey 32, Anshul Kamboj 23 and Harshit Rana were dismissed after scoring 16 runs, while Mukesh Kumar returned unbeaten without opening the account. Earlier on the opening day, India A lost the wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal (24), captain Abhimanyu Easwaran (8) and Sarfaraz Khan (92). Josh Hull and Zaman Akhtar took three wickets each for England Lions, while Eddie Jack took two and Ajit and Rehan Ahmed got one wicket each.
Karun made a memorable comeback
India A resumed the innings on the second day at 409 for three. Karun Nair started the innings at 186 and Dhruv Jurel at 82. Jurel was moving fast towards a century, but missed out. At the same time, Karun strengthened his position by scoring a double century. Karun has returned to India’s senior team after seven years and has shown his strength before the five-match Test series against England. The five-match Test series between India and England will begin on June 20.
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