Day two of the second red-ball match between England Lions and India A was brought to an early finish as bad light ended proceedings in Northampton with the home side still trailing by 156 runs.
Despite the deficit, the Lions are in a strong position in the match, finishing the day on 192-3 in response to India A's total of 348 all-out. Centurion from last week Tom Haines crossed 50 again at the top of the order after the early loss of Durham opener Ben McKinney, and reached 54 before he was dismissed by Tushar Deshpande.
2nd unofficial Test, England Lions vs India A
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Half-centuries from Emilio Gay and Tom Haines put Lions in driver's seat
Emilio Gay was the highest scorer of the day, reaching 71 off 117 balls before he was pinned lbw by Tanush Kotian. That brought captain and Somerset batter James Rew to the crease alongside Jordan Cox. Rew faced five balls out at the end of the day before readings from the light meters signalled a premature end to the day's play.
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Earlier in the day, the Lions bowlers had wrapped up the India A tail in short order. Having scored 319-7 on the first day of play, which was dominated by a century from KL Rahul at the top of the order on his first innings of the tour, they put on just 29 more runs before being bowled out. Chris Woakes was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with figures of 3-60, with Josh Tongue taking two wickets in consecutive overs on the second morning.
Tongue also effected the third and final dismissal of the morning, throwing down the stumps to run out Deshpande by inches.
The match – second and final in the junior series before the Test tour – will resume tomorrow (June 7), with Cox and Rew set to continue. Max Holden, who also scored a century in the first game in Canterbury, will be the next batter to the crease.
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