England Lions lead India A by 121 runs after day two of the first unofficial Test

England Lions lead India A by 121 runs at stumps on day two of the first unofficial Test in Wayanad, with the hosts closing on 219/1.

Experienced Test batsman KL Rahul (88*) and Priyank Panchal (89*) put on an unbeaten 171 for the second wicket before bad light brought proceedings to a slightly premature end.

Starting the day on 303/5, the Lions lost their last five wickets for just 37 runs with Will Jacks passing 50 before falling LBW to the left-arm spin of Shahbaz Nadeem for 63. Navdeep Saini took five for 79 as he cleaned up the tail.

Rahul and Abhimanyu Easwaran survived the eight overs before lunch and added 48 before Easwaran was excellently bowled by a Zak Chappell yorker that moved away late.

Rahul and Panchal soaked up the pressure from the Lions seamers, upping the run-rate as the ball softened towards the end of the day to set up a strong position at the close.

Scorecard: www.ecb.co.uk/matches/10676

Quotes

Lewis Gregory

“I think we bowled really well in periods and created some pressure, trying to make some opportunities but sometimes you have to credit some good batting as well. Rahul and Panchal applied themselves really well and made it very difficult for us to take wickets. We’re going to have to freshen up tomorrow and hit them hard.

“There’s a little bit happening off the cracks with the new ball but the balls go soft very quickly so it was a case of trying to contain for a large period of time and trying to get as much out of the surface as possible. We let them get away a little bit at the end of the day but on the whole I think we did pretty well.”