India A began the second day of the third unofficial ‘Test’ against England Lions behind in the game, and ended it with their noses in front.
They had their fast bowlers to thank. It was the quicks who did the damage for England Lions on day one, Matthew Potts and Brydon Carse sharing all 10 wickets before Alex Lees, another Durham player, cut the deficit to under 100 with nine wickets in hand.
Lees added only 16 to his overnight 48, but that was still more than any other England Lions batter managed on the second day as India roared back. After Ollie Price was pinned lbw for 31, wickets fell steadily, and all but two to seam. Akash Deep and Yash Dayal were the two stars, taking seven wickets between them. Arshdeep Singh accounted for the other pace wicket, while left-arm spinner Shams Mulani finished things off with the last two wickets.
England Lions had lost their last nine wickets for 86 runs, squandering the opportunity to post a match-defining total. Instead, the lead by just seven runs, the game effectively reduced to a one-innings shoot-out.
The game remained in the balance at stumps, Sai Sudarshan making a half-century to help build a lead but James Coles’ left-arm spin accounting for three wickets. Abhimanyu Easwaran was caught behind by Price for 22, Devdutt Padikkal was bowled for 21, and Tilak Varma fell to the last ball of the day, also caught behind, for 46.
India A lead by 141 runs with seven wickets in hand. A result looks likely either way, but the hosts need only to avoid defeat to secure a series win. They put on a heroic rearguard to save the first ‘Test’ after the first three days were dominated by the Lions, and then surged to an innings win in the second ‘Test’. All three games are being played in Ahmedabad.
