Bowlers Star as India A Clinch Series Against England Lions

Cricketnext Staff | Updated: January 27, 2019, 5:59 PM IST

Krunal Pandya put in a Player-of-the-Match performance when he finished with figures of 4/21 and helped his side, India A, comprehensively beat England Lions by 60 runs in the third unofficial ODI in Thiruvananthapuram. This was their third consecutive win, giving them an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.

Batting first, the hosts had the worst possible start as Ajinkya Rahane (0) was dismissed off the first ball of the match and the returning KL Rahul (13) followed soon after.

Hanuma Vihari (16), Shreyas Iyer (13), Ishan Kishan (30) and Pandya (21) all got starts but failed to convert that into anything substantial.

England Lions’ Jamie Overton and Matthew Carter took five wickets amongst themselves to break the backbone of the hosts’ batting line-up.

India A’s batting collapse saw them go from 4/53 to 6/110 by the end of the 30^th over as the visiting bowlers continued to build the pressure.

There was some lower-middle order resistance in the form of Axar Patel (13) and Deepak Chahar (39) as India A huffed and puffed their way to a meager 172 all-out.

India opened the bowling with left-arm spinner Patel, and it worked wonders as he sent Alex Davies and Will Jacks back to the hut within the first five overs of the innings.

Soon after, captain Sam Billings was dismissed by Deepak Chahar and the visitors were in deep trouble at 3/23 within six overs.

Ben Duckett (39) and Olly Pope (27) then stepped up to the plate and put on a 47-run partnership to stall the rampaging Indian bowlers. Navdeep Saini had Pope dismissed in the 18^th over, triggering another mini-collapse.

By now Pandya, who sent back Duckett and Lewis Gregory (1) in quick succession, was tightening the screws from his end as Saini grabbed a second wicket when he had Jamie Overton (18) trapped lbw.

The England Lions had lost five wickets for just 24 runs and were all but sure of heading towards defeat.

Danny Briggs (15) stuck around hoping to be able to take the run-chase further and avoid humiliation but he ended up being Pandya’s fourth wicket and the final nail in the coffin for the visitors as they were bundled out for 112 in 30.5 overs.

Brief Scores: India A – 172 all out (D Chahar 39, K Pandya 21, J Overton 3/34, M Carter 2/23) beat England Lions – 112 (B Duckett 39, O Pope 27, K Pandya 4/21, N Saini 2/21)