England XI’s 282 was not challenging enough for the stroke-players in the India-A line-up.
Captain Ajinkya Rahane led the way with controlled hitting, guiding his team to a six-wicket win over England XI in 39.4 overs in the second warm-up match at the Brabourne stadium on Thursday.
The visitors got a taste of what to to come in the One-Day Internationals. The India-A opener proved his match fitness with a knock of 91 from 83 balls. Rahane also guided partners Sheldon Jackson (59, 56b) and Rishabh Pant (59, 36b) in the victory chase.
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The Mumbai player exuded confidence and became the top-scorer in the match. He cleared doubts about his finger injury with power-packed shots.
Rishabh’s knock
Rishabh’s flourish at the crease was praiseworthy. The left-hander survived awkward moments at the start, but regained confidence to leave his fans astounded with clean hitting. He crossed 50 in 32 balls with a swatted six over mid-wicket and blasted eight 4s, two 6s in all.
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Earlier, India-A bowlers Shabhaz Nadeem (2-41), Parvez Rasool (3-38), Ashoke Dinda (2-55) benefited from the England batsmen’s aggressive approach.
Nadeem, asked to bowl a long spell, disrupted the visitors’ charge with two wickets. Alex Hales, shaped for a flick to mid-wicket, found a crouching Rahane in position for a low catch. The visitors’ weakness against spin surfaced when Nadeem deceived Eoin Morgan with a change in pace.
Off-spinner Rasool sent back Jos Buttler with a return catch.
Rahane lost the toss, but India-A got lucky with the first wicket. Opener Jason Roy’s helmet flap fell on the stumps while attempting a pull against Sangwan.
Dinda’s swing and pace got an aggressive Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali into trouble and they were caught behind.
Ben Stokes got away with two scoop shots over his shoulder against Nadeem. But he perished trying to clear the long-on fence off Rasool.
The visitors chose to bat after Morgan called it right in the morning, but instead of spending quality time at the crease the batsmen lost their way in an effort to dominate the spinners.
Nadeem and Rasool claimed five wickets between themselves. Bairstow top-scored for England (64 off 65 balls) and Alex Hales made 51 off 53 balls. Tailenders Adil Rashid and David Willey were more adventurous in an entertaining 71-run stand. But the England XI’s effort was not enough against a superior India-A team.
The scores:
England XI: Jason Roy hit wicket b Sangwan 25, Alex Hales c Rahane b Nadeem 51, Jonny Bairstow c Rishabh b Dinda 64, Eoin Morgan c & b Nadeem 0, Ben Stokes c Ishan b Rasool 38, Jos Buttler c & b Rasool 0, Moeen Ali c Rishabh b Dinda 1, Chris Woakes b Rasool 16, Adil Rashid c Rishabh b Sangwan 39, Liam Plunkett c Rishabh b Kaul 8, David Willey (not out) 38; Extras (w-2): 2; Total (in 48.5 overs): 282.
Fall of wickets: 1-42, 2-116, 3-116, 4-163, 5-164, 6-165, 7-190, 8-198, 9-211.
India-A bowling: Pradeep Sangwan 6.5-0-64-2, Sidharth Kaul 6-0-31-1, Ashoke Dinda 8-1-55-2, Shabhaz Nadeem 10-0-41-2, Vinay Kumar 7-1-47-0, Parvez Rasool 10-1-38-3, Deepak Hooda 1-0-6-0.
India-A: Ajinkya Rahane b Willey 91, Sheldon Jackson c Bairstow b Moeen 59, Rishabh Pant c Hales b Rashid 59, Suresh Raina c Hales b Ball 45, Deepak Hooda (not out) 23, Ishan Kishan (not out) 5; Extras (w-1): 1; Total (for four wkts. in 39.4 overs): 283.
Fall of wickets: 1-119, 2-197, 3-233, 4-268.
England XI bowling: Chris Woakes 7-1-54-0, David Willey 5-0-32-1, Jason Ball 6-0-46-1, Ben Stokes 4.4-0-30-0, Adil Rashid 7-0-51-1, Moeen Ali 7-0-46-1, Liam Plunkett 3-0-24-0.
Toss: England XI.
India-A won by six wickets .