India A vs England Lions: Mukesh 3-for, Sarfaraz blinder the highlights on an otherwise day of struggles for Indians
It was a day of hard toil for India A in their unofficial Test as three batters from England Lions crossed the three-figure mark to post 527/7 at stumps. Mukesh Kumar, after leaking runs on Day 2, was the bright spark as he picked up three wickets in a late first-session burst with the old ball. But what would concern Indian selectors is the general lack of sting from Shardul Thakur and Nitish Kumar Reddy, the two seam bowling allrounders in the Test scheme of things, who combined for 32 overs and conceded 147 among them, with the former accounting for Lions' top-scorer Tom Haines on 171.
The day started off in shaky fashion for the visitors as wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel dropped Haines. On Day 2, he had put down a chance due to the known struggle that visiting keepers often face, with the wobbling ball. But this one didn't and Harshit Rana was left disappointed, as he could have used a break after going for plenty for runs. Jurel was unlucky short after when Anshul Kambhoj squared up Max Holden; there was a clear edge and the first replay showed the ball clearly carried. But it wasn't given out, and Holden went on to complete his ton off 99 balls. Jurel would have that catch finally as Mukesh drew an edge off Holden from around the wicket from a good length delivery.
Mukesh would soon double his tally with a ripper of a delivery to yet another left-hander, the England Lions lineup swarming with them. Again around the wicket, this was a touch closer to the stumps than the one that made Holden nick one. James Rew, the captain, missed it this time and was trapped in front. It seemed a relatively straightforward LBW decision. After waiting for a wicket for so long, Mukesh had two in the space of four overs.
Finally, for the first time after 72 overs, the Indian bowlers had a right-handed batter to bowl at, but that wouldn't last long. It was once again Mukesh who struck, a short of length ball in the channel outside offstump tempting Rehan Ahmed to slash at it and the outside edge was sharply taken by Sarfaraz Khan. The ball stung his palms but he held on and winced in pain later. Just before lunch, the Mukesh burst had reduced Lions from 312/2 in the 68th over to 326/5 in the 74th over.
Lions went through the second session without losing a wicket as Haines and Dan Mousley frustrated Indian bowlers. After a lot of toil with no rewards, came a moment of brilliance early in the third session in the 100th over of the Lions' innings. Ambling in towards the crease as he does, Thakur had Haines edging a length ball while attempting an expansive drive. Sarfaraz, placed at a very wide solitary slip, dived to his left and plucked the ball out of thin air to end Haines' knock on 171.
As if he hasn't done enough already to earn his spot in the Indian XI for the first Test, there was a late reminder from Karun Nair that he could roll his arm over if need be. With one that went straight on from his round-the-wicket angle he trapped a well-set Mousley in front of the stumps off what was the last ball of the day, dismissed for 113.
Brief scores: India A 557 all out vs England Lions 527/7 (Tom Haines 171, Max Holden 101, Dan Mousley 113, Mukesh Kumar 3/75). India A lead by 30 runs.
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