Canterbury, May 31 (IANS) Karun Nair’s (204) double century, alongside almost-hundreds by Sarfaraz Khan (92) and Dhruv Jurel (94), helped India A set a massive total of 557 in the first innings against England Lions on Day 2 of the unofficial Test at the St Lawrence Ground here on Saturday.

For the bowling side, Josh Hull and Zaman Akhter claimed three wickets each.

Earlier on day one, India ‘A’ captain Abhimanyu Easwaran (8) was trapped plumb by left-arm fast bowler Josh Hull. Shortly after, Yashasvi Jaiswal (24) was also on his way to the pavilion while attempting to hoick across the line and was caught behind on the bowling of Eddie Jack.

But from there, India took the fight to the inexperienced English bowlers. Nair took his time to adjust to the conditions and the seaming Duke’s ball before showcasing brilliant shots on both sides of the wicket.

Nair shared a 181-run third-wicket partnership with Sarfaraz, who was comfortable in hitting 92 off 119 balls. He also shared a 195-run partnership with vice-captain Dhruv Jurel, who hit 94 off 120 balls, before the wicket-keeper batter fell to pacer Ajeet Singh Dale on day two on Saturday.

Nitish Kumar Reddy (5) failed to make an impact as he nicked a short delivery while trying to drive it through off and was Jack’s second wicket of the innings.

Nair, who resumed from 186 not out, swivel-pulled Eddie Jack through the leg-side to bring up his fourth First-Class double century, which is also his first 200-plus score for India ‘A’. It was his fourth double-century in First-Class cricket. He departed soon after as his inside edge, off Zaman Akhter, clipped the ball, and James Rew made no mistake in latching onto it.

Shardul Thakur, who has produced memorable moments in England before, struck a quick-fire 27, with four boundaries to his name, before he too fell to Akhter. Harsh Dubey (32) and Anshul Kamboj (23) pushed India’s score to 533 for 7 at lunch, before the former edged Josh Hull to James Rew,

Harshit Rana (16) had a few tricks up his sleeve and smashed Rehan Ahmed for two maximums, with Kamboj also getting one before he was caught plumb by Rehan. Akhter claimed his third to end India’s innings when Rana was caught by Hull in the deep.

Brief scores:

India A 557 all out in 125.1 overs (Karun Nair 204, Dhruv Jurel 94, Sarfaraz Khan 92; Josh Hull 3-72, Zaman Akhter 3-73) vs England Lions

–IANS

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