Britain Lions made a strong begin in the primary informal Test against India A, with half-hundreds of years from Ben Duckett and Sam Hain helping the guests to 303/5 at Stumps on Day 1 in Wayanad.
Selecting to bat first, openers Duckett and Max Holden put on a 82-run remain before the last fell at the stroke of Lunch as Navdeep Saini gave the hosts a truly necessary achievement.
Duckett and Hain then put on 48 keeps running for the second wicket. Duckett, who had achieved fifty just before Lunch, couldn’t change over his thump into a hundred however, missing the mark in the wake of being bowled by Shardul Thakur.
Lions lost several wickets more with hardly a pause in between, on either side of Tea, however Hain tied up toward one side and raised the group’s 200 in the organization of Steven Mullaney. Hain too neglected to change over his thump into something significant, succumbing to 61 in a matter of seconds into the last session.
Notwithstanding, Lions were most beneficial in the last session of the day, adding 113 rushes to their aggregate for only two wickets. Mullaney and Will Jacks held hands to solidify the innings and had put on 65 keeps running for the whole 6th wicket remain when stumps were drawn on the opening day.
Brief scores: England Lions 303/5 (Ben Duckett 80, Sam Hain 61, Will Jacks 40*; Navdeep Saini 2-57) versus India A.