India A vs England Lions: Mayank Markande's five-for guides hosts to innings victory in 2nd unofficial Test

Mysuru: Young Mayank Markande scalped five wickets to spin India ‘A’ to a convincing innings and 68-run win over England Lions in the second unofficial Test to clinch the two-match series 1-0 at Mysuru on Friday. Leg-spinner Markande (5/31) spun a web around the visitors to bowl them out for 180 in the second innings after India A enforced follow-on. [caption id=“attachment_5131811” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representative image. Reuters[/caption] Resuming at 24 for no loss and faced with the daunting task of handling the Indian spinners on a turning wicket, the Lions batsmen came a cropper with only Ben Duckett (50) and Lewis Gregory (44) showing some fight. Besides Markande, Jalaj Saxena (2/40) claimed two wickets. The 21-year old Markande, who performed creditably for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL) last year, troubled most of the England batsmen with his guile. The talented Ollie Pope was Markande’s first victim, trapped leg-before. But opener Duckett mixed caution with aggression in an effort to defy the India ‘A’ bowlers. He hit four boundaries and two sixes in his half-century and was involved in a 40-run partnership with fellow opener Max Holden (7). Off-spinner Saxena struck the first blow for the hosts, dismissing Holden leg-before wicket. He also dismissed Duckett in the same manner. Markande, who plays for Punjab, took over and had the Lions batsmen in a spin, getting a lot of turn on a wearing wicket. He removed Steve Mullaney, Dominic Bess and Zak Chappell in quick succession as the Lions capitulated. Running out of partners, Gregory went on the offensive and hit six fours and a six during his 49-ball knock before becoming the last wicket to fall, handing India ‘A’ victory with a day to spare. Pace bowlers Varun Aaron (1/39), Navdeep Saini (1/25) and left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem (1/25) picked up a wicket each. Earlier, the Rahul Dravid-coached India ‘A’ team had enforced the follow-on after dismissing the visitors for 144 in the first innings in reply to the hosts’ 392 all out. Abhimanyu Easwaran, who slammed 117 in India’s score, was named ‘Man of the Match’ for his effort.