England Lions began Day 3 of the second four-day game at County Ground, Northampton at 192/3. India A didn’t take much time to get the breakthrough on Day 3 as Khaleel Ahmed got the better of Jordan Cox. Three overs later, he dismissed James Rew and George Hill as England Lions slumped to 225/6.
Khaleel’s brilliant spell saw him bag a four-for, with Chris Woakes being his last victim.
England Lions were trailing India A’s first-innings score by 119 runs with just three wickets remaining. Tushar Deshpande pegged the hosts back further by taking the wicket of Max Holden.
Josh Tongue and Farhan Ahmed joined forces and added a crucial 36-run stand for the 10th wicket. Nitish Kumar Reddy eventually dismissed the latter after he had scored 24 off 87 balls. The last-wicket partnership between Tongue and Eddie Jack yielded 48 runs off 84 balls as England Lions almost managed to wipe out the deficit.
Anshul Kamboj took the wicket of Jack, while Tongue remained unbeaten on 36 off 61 balls. India A took a slender lead of 21 runs. England Lions lost their last seven wickets for 135 runs. Khaleel finished with figures of 4/70, while Kamboj and Deshpande bagged two wickets apiece. Tanush Kotian and Reddy chipped in with a wicket apiece.
In their second innings, India A lost the wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal early. The southpaw could only add five runs before George Hill dismissed him. KL Rahul and Abhimanyu Easwaran forged an elegant partnership of 88 runs from 112 deliveries. The former was dismissed for a 64-ball 51, adding to his majestic century in the first innings. The in-form Karun Nair scored 15 before departing.
Easwaran, however, continued playing some exquisite strokes in the latter stages of the day. However, with Stumps on the horizon, the India A skipper lost his concentration and hung his bat out to a ball just outside off-stump from Woakes. The edge was taken by Ben McKinney in the slip cordon. Easwaran departed after scoring a fluent 80 off 92 balls, belting 10 boundaries.
Dhruv Jurel and Reddy took India A through to Stumps on Sunday (June 8). The visitors are placed at 163/4 with a lead of 184 runs.
India
