Ind A v Eng 2nd warm-up match Review: Skipper Rahane leads India A to 6-wicket win

The second and last warm-up match Ajinkya Rahane led India A beat visitors England XI quite comprehensively to give them a strong test ahead of the start of the ODI series. Having won the first match chasing Eoin Morgan decided to bat first at the same venue today. After a great start and finish England managed 282 in 48.5 overs. It didn’t prove to be a challenging score for the young Indian team as they chased it down quite comfortably with 6 wickets in hand.

The kind of start they had looked like they England looked good for a huge total but the India A bowlers made a strong comeback after once again giving things away in the last half. England opted to play with 12 players in the match and thus the it didn’t have List A status, they played Jake Ball as the extra bowler for the game.

Jason Roy and Alex Hales were off to a breezy start the Indian new ball bowlers Pradeep Sangwan and Siddharth Kaul found the initial onslaught too hot to handle. Roy after scoring 25 from 15 was out hit wicket on a delivery from Sangwan in the 5th over. Despite the breakthrough there was no change in the pace of the inning. Jonny Bairstow joined Hales and the duo took the team total over hundred in the 17th over.

They both scored half centuries and the introduction of spin in the form of Shahbaz Nadeem yielded Rahane another wicket as the skipper caught Hales off the left-arm spinner. Then there was a phase when the Indian bowlers were all over the visitors. On the very first ball of his inning, Morgan gave Nadeem a return catch and walked back with a golden duck. Ashok Dinda from the other end removed Bairstow for 64.

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The danger man Jos Buttler walked in and walked back for the second golden duck of the innings he was caught and bowled by Parvez Rasool and then Dinda immediately in the next over had Moeen Ali. Rasool soon got rid of Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes who had until then batted well for his 38 was also on his way back courtesy the off-spinner and Liam Plunkett became Kaul’s first wicket on the night.

In no time England were stranded at 211/9. But the last wicket pair of Adil Rashid and David Willey put up a stubborn stand and added 71 runs to the total and took England XI to 282 before they were bowled out.

India A in their response were clinical and went about the task without much ado. Openers Rahane and Sheldon Jackson gave the team a centurion start and they already had 119 runs on the board in less than 19 overs. Jackson scored 59 and was dismissed by Moeen Ali but that brought in the young sensation Rishabh Pant to the middle.

He had to license to go out and kill so did he. He thrashed the England bowlers with disdain much to the entertainment of the crowd at the CCI. In no time the 19-year-old got to his half century. He scored 36 from 59 balls with eight boundaries and a couple of sixes. He was dismissed by the leggie Rashid. Suresh Raina then joined Rahane and they were sailing smooth. The skipper having batted really well for most part of his inning was undone by Willey 9 short of a well deserved century but the team was well on course of victory by then.

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Raina making a comeback having missed the previous series due to illness looked good for his 45 but unfortunately couldn’t take the team home. Ishan Kishan had to walk out to join Deepak Hooda to sign things off. Kishan and Hooda were unbeaten on 23 and 5 respectively as they signed off the chase in just a matter of 39.4 overs for the loss of 4 wickets.

Brief Scores

England XI: 282/10 (Jonny Bairstow 64; Parvez Rasool 3/38)

India A: 283/4 (Ajinkya Rahane 91; David Willey 1/32)