KL Rahul's century coupled with Dhruv Jurel's fifty bailed out India A from precarious position and rallied them to 319/7 against England Lions on Day 1 of the second unofficial Test on June 6.
England Lions won the toss and opted to field first. Their decision yielded an early breakthrough with the dismissal of Yashasvi Jaiswal for just 17 runs. However, KL Rahul continued his excellent form, reaching a well-deserved century. Karun Nair, who had scored a double century in the previous match, contributed a valuable 40 runs before being dismissed.
Dhruv Jurel played a steady innings, scoring 52 runs, while Nitish Kumar Reddy added 34 runs to the India A total before being bowled in the final session of the day's play. Among the England Lions bowlers, Chris Woakes was the most successful, picking up three wickets, while George Hill also managed to take two scalps.
The morning session of the first day's play belonged to England Lions' right-arm fast bowler, Chris Woakes. He made early inroads into the India A batting lineup, striking twice to remove the opening batsmen, Yashasvi Jaiswal for 17 runs and the captain, Abhimanyu Easwaran, for 11 runs. These early dismissals left India A in a precarious position at 40 runs for the loss of two wickets.
KL Rahul, making his return to the longer format of the game, played a composed and crucial innings. He formed a solid partnership with Karun Nair, adding 86 runs for the third wicket before Nair was trapped leg-before-wicket by Woakes for a score of 40. Rahul continued his fluent innings, reaching a well-deserved 116 runs off 168 deliveries. His knock was adorned with 15 boundaries. He was eventually dismissed by George Hill shortly after the team's total crossed the 250-run mark.
The middle order provided valuable contributions, with Dhruv Jurel scoring a half-century (52 runs) and Nitish Kumar Reddy adding 34 runs to the scoreboard. These contributions helped keep the innings moving forward. However, wickets continued to fall at regular intervals throughout the final session of the day. Shardul Thakur contributed 19 runs before being dismissed leg-before-wicket by the spinner Farhan Ahmed. George Hill also played a crucial role for England Lions, claiming two important wickets, including that of Dhruv Jurel. At the end of the day's play, India A found themselves in a balanced position with a score of 319 runs for the loss of seven wickets, with Tanush Kotian (5 not out) and Anshul Kamboj (1 not out) at the crease.