Abhimanyu, Rahul fifties extend India A's lead to 184 after Khaleel's four-for in unofficial Test
KL Rahul followed up his first-innings hundred with another half-century to prepare in earnest for the upcoming Test series, while Abhimanyu Easwaran pressed his case with an 80-run knock as India A stretched their overall lead to 184 in the second unofficial Test against England Lions here on Sunday.
India A ended the third day's play at 163/4 after Rahul (51 off 64 balls) and Easwaran shared 88 runs for the second wicket.
Earlier, left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed produced a penetrating spell of seam bowling to return figures of 4/70, as India A bowled out England Lions for 327 in the second session to secure a first-innings lead of 21 runs.
In reply, India A once again lost Yashasvi Jaiswal (5) early, but Rahul picked up from where he left off in the first essay.
His fluent knock was studded with nine boundaries.
Eyeing a maiden Test call-up, Abhimanyu looked solid en route to his second fifty of the tour, which included nine hits to the fence.
Abhimanyu, however, fell short of a century as he edged an outswinger from Chris Woakes (2/31) to second slip shortly after a bad light interruption.
At stumps on the penultimate day, Dhruv Jurel (6) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1) were at the crease.
England's George Hill provided the early breakthrough with the left-handed Jaiswal getting out to a tentative poke to the keeper, his second straight low score after his 17 in the first innings.
Rahul and Abhimanyu then steadied the innings with a confident stand.
The skipper was particularly commanding with his drives and showed good judgement in leaving balls that climbed on length.
Rahul, meanwhile, looked comfortable against both pace and spin and brought up his half-century in 61 balls.
However, three balls after reaching his fifty, Rahul perished. Eddie Jack got one to rear up, forcing a top-edged pull from Rahul that was pouched at mid-on.
Fresh from a double century in the first match, Karun Nair looked composed as he joined Abhimanyu but was dismissed by Woakes.
Earlier, England Lions resumed at 192/3 but suffered a dramatic collapse in the morning session, losing four wickets for just 10 runs.
Khaleel set the tone, removing skipper James Rew (10) and Hill (0) off successive deliveries to trigger the slide.
He then dismissed Woakes (5) to reduce the Lions to 266/8 by lunch.
After the break, Nitish Kumar Reddy ended Farhan Ahmed's dogged 87-ball stay for 24, making it 279/9.
However, the last-wicket pair of Josh Tongue and 19-year-old Eddie Jack frustrated India A with a gritty 48-run stand, which dragged the hosts past the 300-run mark.
Tongue remained unbeaten on 36 (61 balls), while Jack, in just his second first-class match, impressed with his composure under pressure, striking three boundaries and defending stoutly.
India A tried everything to break the final stand, including taking the second new ball in the 81st over.
Khaleel was brought back in search of a five-for, but it was Anshul Kamboj (2/56) who finally ended the resistance at the stroke of tea.
Tushar Deshpande (2/62) also made his mark, accounting for Max Holden (7).
Jordan Cox (45) had earlier batted fluently in the morning, adding useful runs with Rew before falling just short of a fifty to become Khaleel's first victim.
Brief Scores:
India A: 348 and 163/4 in 33 overs (KL Rahul 51, Abhimanyu Easwaran 80) vs England Lions 327 in 89 overs (Emilio Gay 71, Tom Haines 54, Jordan Cox 45, Josh Tongue 36 not out; Khaleel Ahmed 4/70, Anshul Kamboj 2/56, Tushar Deshpande 2/62).
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