India A vs England: Both teams agree to a draw

India A and England have agreed to a draw in their first warm-up match at the Brabourne in Mumbai. Suresh Raina (19) and Manoj Tiwary (2) were at the crease when the teams made the decision. India followed up their first innings score of 369 all out with 124-4 in 40 overs in the second innings. England had declared their first innings at 426-9. Earlier, Samit Patel took his first wicket of the innings when Ajinkya Rahane edged him to the slips. Rahane had scored 54 runs in 98 balls, including six fours. After tea, Tim Bresnan had sent Yuvraj Singh back to the pavilion shortly after James Anderson took Murali Vijay’s wicket. Yuvraj pulled a short ball to Ian Bell at mid-on, bringing an end to his 14-run innings. He managed one four in the 36 balls he faced. [caption id=“attachment_511039” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Rahane had scored four fours and was not out on 32 from 47 balls before tea. Getty Images[/caption] Vijay was looking good on 32 from 60 balls before he became Anderson’s second victim of the day. Before tea, Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane had forged a solid partnership worth 65 runs after early jitters saw Abhinav Mukund fall for just three runs to Anderson. After England’s innings, Vijay and Rahane seemed in the mood for some quick runs, with the former slamming four fours and a six in his innings. Rahane had also scored four fours and was not out on 32 from 47 balls before tea. Yuvraj Singh got five wickets as England declared their innings on 429 for 9. Alastair Cook and Samit Patel got fine centuries and Prior chipped in with a quickfire 50. The rest of the tail batted well enough to ensure that England had a  lead of 57 runs. Steve Finn had injured his thigh muscles and will not be taking any further part in the match. Yuvraj had also scored a half-century while India A were batting and the selectors will find it hard to ignore his allround show when they sit to select the squad for the first Test at Ahmedabad on Monday. He took 5 wickets for 94 runs. As usual, he gave the ball lots of flight and his variations of pace were good. He might be a handy guy to have around the team to give the regular bowlers a break. Certainly more handy than Raina. Earlier, at lunch on the third day of their first warm-up game against England had reached 396-8 thanks to a century from allrounder Samit Patel. England XI are ahead by 27 runs with 2 wickets remaining in the first innings. At the start of the day, England were on 286 for four, with Patel unbeaten on 82 alongside skipper Alastair Cook, who had already got a century yesterday. But Cook didn’t last too long this morning and departed with the team’s total on 302. The left-hander’s personal score was 119 and the wicket-taker was Ashok Dinda. The partnership for the fifth wicket was a massive 169. However, Patel kept things moving with a doughty knock. He finally departed for 104, caught at cover in a Yuvraj Singh over that yielded two wickets. The left-arm spinner also got the wicket of wicketkeeper-batsman Matt Prior, who contributed with a quickfire 52-ball 51. Tim Bresnan was unbeaten on 21 at the interval. Once again, the Indian attack managed to get early wickets but then struggled to dismiss the tail. Now, where have we seen this happen before?