Karun Nair's double century powers India-A to 557 against England Lions

Canterbury [UK], May 31 (ANI): A Majestic double century from Karun Nair and impactful innings from Dhruv Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan powered India A to a mammoth 557-10 in 125.1 overs, on Day 2 of the first unofficial test against England Lions in Canterbury on Saturday.

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After Karun Nair's onslaught ended on 204, England Lions capitalised on the opportunity and Zaman Akhter removed Shardul Thakur after scoring 27 off 32.

Harsh Dubey and Anshul Kamboj stood on the wicket for ten overs before Josh Hull removed Dubey for 32 off 47 in the 120th over.

From there, England bowlers bowled out Indian batters in five overs.

Earlier in the first session, Karun stepped on the crease with an ambition of continuing to thrive with his formula of success and making England Lions toil hard for wickets.

He pulled the curtains down on the opening day with an unbeaten 186 and slowly found his rhythm after sprinting for a couple of singles.

The 32-year-old had to wait till the final over of the 101st over to get his hands on the elusive landmark. Eddie Jack went wayward in line and length, allowing Nair to exploit the gap.

He sent the ball racing towards the boundary rope for a four and brought up a sizzling double ton. Throughout his stay on the crease, Nair remained unfazed by his underwhelming run in the IPL and the events that took place at the other end.

Dhruv Jurel kicked off the day with an air of positivity and picked up a boundary to mark the resumption of his swift blitzkrieg. However, he fell six runs shy of a deserved hundred. Ajeet Dale deceived Jurel to end his swashbuckling exploits on 94(120).

Nitish Kumar Reddy showed intent but could survive for 22 deliveries after depositing the ball into the gloves of England Lions captain James Rew.

Shardul Thakur went berserk in his limited stay and reeled off a couple of boundaries to race to 18 from 13 deliveries before Nair holed it to Rew off Zaman Akhter and returned with 204 (281). (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)