Northampton, June 7 (IANS) Tom Haines and Emilio Gay smashed fifties each before bad light forced an early end to the second day of the second unofficial Test between England Lions and India ‘A’ at County Ground in Northampton on Saturday. At stumps, England Lions had reached 192/3 in 46 overs and trailed India ‘A’ by 156 runs.

Resuming Day Two’s play from 319/7 in 83 overs, India ‘A’ received early blows when Josh Tongue removed overnight batters Tanush Kotian and Anshul Kamboj quickly. Khaleel Ahmed and Tushar Deshpande tried taking India ‘A’ to 350, but a direct hit from Tongue caught the latter short of his crease to wrap up the visitors’ innings at 348 in 89.3 overs.

In reply, Ahmed and Kamboj found swing but were either bowling too straight or gave lots of width, resulting in Haines, the centurion from the first unofficial Test, keeping the scoreboard ticking. While Khaleel bowled three overs, Kamboj had an extended spell.

After Haines was given a reprieve when his catch was put down at backward point off Kamboj, the seamer finally had something to cheer when he had Ben McKinney caught behind.

Post lunch, resuming from 28 not out, Haines continued to be solid with Emilio Gay for company and was also helped by Shardul Thakur bowling five no-balls, as the former raised his fifty with a thick outside edge flying past second slip for four.

But just after the drinks break, Haines fell for 54 off 88 balls when he gave a thick outside edge behind to Dhruv Jurel off Tushar Deshpande’s bowling. Gay was also rock solid and reached 46 not out before a drizzle forced the tea break to be taken early, as England Lions made 88 runs in 17 overs of the second session.

In the final session, Gay got to his fifty off 88 balls with an on-drive off Tanush Kotian for four. Lions continued to dominate, as Jordan Cox also found a few boundaries, especially with Kotian and Nitish Kumar Reddy operating from both ends.

Kotian eventually broke the 69-run stand for the third wicket by trapping Gay lbw for 71 off 117 balls. Skipper James Rew played only five deliveries before players from both teams went off the field due to bad light, and eventually ended day two early, which was defined by England Lions being dominant and India ‘A’ failing to be consistent with the ball.

Brief scores:

India ‘A’ 348 all out in 89.3 overs (KL Rahul 116, Dhruv Jurel 52; Chris Woakes 3-60, George Hill 2-56) lead England Lions 192/3 in 46 overs (Emilio Gay 71, Tom Haines 54; Tanush Kotian 1-21, Anshul Kamboj 1-38) by 156 runs

–IANS

nr/bsk/