India A registered a stunning victory against English Cricket Board (ECB) XI, beating them by 125 runs in a practice match on June 17 at Headingly in Leeds.
ECB XI won the toss and opted to bowl first. Playing for India A, opener Prithvi Shaw played a magnificent innings by scoring 70 off 61 deliveries thereby giving the team a desired start. Skipper Shreyas Iyer and wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan contributed with their half centuries, scoring 54 and 50 respectively.
The lower order was kept intact by Krunal Pandya (34) and Axar Patel (28*). The team set a target of 328 runs for the hosts after losing 8 wickets.
In return, ECB XI struggled after the loss of their third wicket where they could not establish a partnership. Skipper and wicketkeeper Alex Davies went early on 4 off 5. Matthew Critchley remained their highest scorer with 40 off 48 balls.
Later, the tail enders failed to take the game closer to victory. ECB XI fell short by 125 runs and were bundled up by the Indian bowling attack with 13.1 overs to spare.
Bowling for India A, pacer Deepak Chahar remained the highest wicket-taker with 3 wickets. Spinner Axar Patel took two scalps after leaking 21 runs. Prasidh Krishna, K Khaleel Ahmed, Vijay Shankar and Krunal Pandya bagged one wicket each.
Right-arm bowler Ryan Higgins remained the highest wicket-taker for ECB XI. He took 4 wickets and gave 50 runs in 10 overs. Ollie Robinson, Tom Barber, Jamie Overton and Delray Rawlins took one wicket each.
Though it was just a practice match, India A, under Rahul Dravid, have shown good signs for the upcoming tri-series with England Lions and West Indies A. The England Lions will take on India A on June 22 at the County Ground, Derby.