The second unofficial Test between India A and England Lions ended in a draw on June 9 in Northampton. England Lions were 32/3 chasing a target of 439 when captains Abhimanyu Easwaran and James Rew decided to call it a day. On Day 4, Tanush Kotian starred with an unbeaten 90. Anshul Kamboj made impact with both bat and ball. First, he scored an unbeaten 51 and then took a couple of wickets with the new ball.
Rahul scores century, Khaleel bags four
In the first innings, KL Rahul scored 116 on his arrival to England. Dhruv Jurel scored a half-century as India posted 348 on the board. Chris Woakes was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets to his name. In reply, opener Tom Haines and Emilio Gay scored half-centuries. Khaleel Ahmed registeerd a four-wicket haul whereas Kamboj and Tushar Deshpande took two wickets each to bowl out hosts for 327.
Kotian-Kamboj's record-breaking partnership for India A
In India A's second innings Yashasvi Jaiswal departed early but Rahul and Easwaran scored half-centuries. Easwaran hit 10 fours in his 92-ball 80 before getting dismissed by Chris Woakes. Nitish Kumar Reddy (42) and Shardul Thakur (34) got starts before getting knocked over by George Hill who took three wickets.
Then, Kotian and Kamboj shared a record-breaking eighth-wicket partnership of 149 runs. The previous best eighth-wicket partnership for India A belonged to Cheteshwar Pujara and Jaskarandeep Singh Buttar. They put on 137 runs on the board against West Indies A in 2010.
Easwaran declared the innings when Kotian was batting on 90 off 108 balls. He hit 10 fours and a six during his stay at the crease. On the other end, Kamboj contributed with 51 runs off 86 balls, featuring five fours and a six.
Kamboj strikes twice
A result was very unlikely with the amount of time left in the day's play. Deshpande struck in the sixth over. He got the better of Haines. Then, Kamboj got rid of Gay and Jordan Cox in the ninth over. England Lions were 32/3 when the two captains agreed on a draw.
Team India to play warm-up game later this week
Meanwhile, the Indian team has been practicing at Kent County Cricket Ground, Beckenham. They will play a four-day warm-up game starting on June 13 before the series opener at Headingley, Leeds starting June 20.