India A vs England Lions, 1st Unofficial Test, Day 2 - Review: KL Rahul finally finds his lost touch back as the hosts fight back

The first unofficial Test between India A and England Lions kicked off on 7 February 2019. After winning the toss, the hosts put the Brits into bat first. The England Lions dominated the first day of play to a large extent with some great batting. Ben Duckett (80) and Sam Hain (61) played great knocks. At the close of play on day-1, the team was right on the top with 303/5.

However, the India A boys bounced back brilliantly on the second day. All that the bowlers took was 14.3 overs to bowl the Lions out. Will Jacks and Steve Mullaney, who were the overnight batsmen, failed to get big scores. Navdeep Saini brought the first breakthrough of the day as he dismissed Mullaney for 42. Soon, Shahbaz Nadeem also struck by dismissing the 20-year-old Jacks who was looking dangerous.

Navdeep was quick to wrap the tail up. He picked up a 5-wicket haul in the innings and was brilliant. While Shardul Thakur picked two wickets, Avesh Khan, Jalaj Saxena and Shahbaz Nadeem picked up one wicket each. England Lions only managed to add another 37 runs to their total before they were bowled out for 340.

KL Rahul finds his lost mojo back

In the second innings of the match, KL Rahul and Abhimanyu Easwaran started off with some extremely cautious cricket. After having a terrific Ranji Trophy season, Easwaran failed to convert the good start that he got. He only managed to score 31 runs before Zak Chappell disturbed his timber.

However, both KL Rahul and Priyank Panchal took complete control of things after this wicket fell. While the former didn’t take too many chances, the latter was the aggressor in the partnership. The duo added an unbeaten 171 runs together as India A still trails by 121 runs. Rahul is unbeaten on 88 and will be eyeing the much-awaited three-figure mark. This innings will surely boost his confidence going forward. Panchal is going strong at the other end with 89 runs.

Brief Scores

England Lions, 1st innings: 340/10 in 104.3 overs (Ben Duckett 80, Will Jacks 63; Navdeep Saini 5/79)

India A, 1st innings: 219/1 in 67 overs (Priyank Panchal 89*, KL Rahul 88*, Zak Chappell 1/28)

Match Situation: India A trail by 121 runs.

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