India ‘A’, England ‘F’

India 'A' defeated England by 53 runs via the D/L method in the first warm-up match at the Palam Airforce Ground in Delhi on Sunday. Riding on Murali Vijay's 76, India 'A' posted a competitive 224 for four in 39 overs — which meant the target was revised to 229 under D/L method — and then skittled the visitors for 175 in the 36th over.

The match was reduced to a 39-overs-a-side contest due to bad light. It was a collective effort by the India 'A' team bowlers with comeback man S Sreesanth bowling an impressive first spell in which he removed the dangerous Kevin Pietersen (19) with a short delivery.

Lanky Ishwar Pandey trapped one-down Samit Patel leg before. Offie Jalaj Saxena then picked up stand-in captain Eoin Morgan and Jos Butler in quick succession. With the English batsmen looking uncomfortable against the spinners, they were soon reduced to 72 for six, virtually ending any chance of a comeback. Only Ian Bell (91) took the attack back to the opposition during his 89-ball knock that contained eight fours and two sixes. However, he didn't get much support from the other end as Ashok Menaria picked up three wickets.

Talented Jammu and Kashmir all-rounder Parveez Rassol, making his 'A' team debut, then effected the run-out of James Tredwell. Earlier, Vijay had a century-plus opening stand with statemate Abhinav Mukund (57), as the duo helped the hosts reach a fighting total.

BRIEF SCORES: India A 224/4 in 39 overs (A Mukund 57, M Vijay 76, K Jadhav 52; J Dernbach 2/23, S Patel 1/21) bt England XI 175 all out in 36 overs (I Bell 91; A Menaria 3/43, J Saxena 2/12)

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