A Tom Haines century helmed a strong response by England Lions on the second day against India A, after the tourists crossed 550 in their first innings. Karun Nair brought up a double century earlier in the day, while Dhruv Jurel fell just short of his own hundred.
Nair, whose eight-year exile from the India set-up was ended by a recall for the England Test series, carried on an astonishing run of form with an unbeaten 186 on day one. Sarfaraz Khan, omitted from the Test squad, and Jurel provided strong support, the former making 92 and the latter 94, dismissed having taken India past 400 just three wickets down on the second morning.
From there, India A sought quick runs and lost wickets doing so. Nair eventually fell for 204, while all of Shardul Thakur, Harsh Dubey and Anshul Kamboj made starts to push their side to 557 all out. Josh Hull and Zaman Akhter ended with three wickets each, while Eddie Jack claimed two, and Rehan Ahmed and Ajeet Singh Dale took one apiece.
Kamboj struck early in reply, bowling Ben McKinney, but wickets were hard to come by thereafter. Durham’s Emilio Gay made 46 in a century stand with Haines, and after he was dismissed by Dubey, Holden took the attack to India A as England Lions reached stumps on 237-2 from 55 overs, having scored at a rate in excess of 4.5 runs per over. Harshit Rana and Mukesh Kumar each conceded more than five an over, while Nitish Kumar Reddy, India’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy hero, conceded 27 runs from three overs.
The four-day game will continue tomorrow, India A leading by 320 runs. England Lions need another 171 to avoid the follow on.
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