Tom Haines leads Lions’ reply with a fine century of his own on day 2 as India finish on 557 on the back of Nair’s 204
Tom Haines ton leads strong Lions reply after Nair’s 204 gives India A 557.
You would believe you are in control if you raise a sum close to 600. However, Sussex top-order batsman Tom Haines led the England Lions’ comeback with a determined century after an overwhelming 557 in the first innings in Canterbury, forcing India A to work hard for much of the second day.
For the tourists, the beginning and finish of the day were rather different. Karun Nair celebrated his fourth first-class double-century in the opening hour. As a result, Nair, who played County cricket for Northampton last year, became one of the few Indian hitters to reach two double hundreds in England.
Throughout his 435-minute stay, which lasted 281 balls, Nair displayed patience, poise, and sound defensive technique as the runs came at a respectable pace for him. He hit 26 fours and a six in his 204. Nair would believe he had put himself in a strong position to secure a spot in the India batting order for the first Test match against England in Leeds as he walked back with the Lions players running to congratulate him and the crowd of more than 1700 standing ovating.
With the Lions starting their second innings a little more than an hour after lunch, the attention was now on the bowlers after India A finished at 557 in 125.1 overs. Anshul Kamboj and Mukesh Kumar shared the new ball. Kamboj had greater discipline than Mukesh, who had trouble finding his lines and rhythm. Kamboj is a powerful player who can move the ball off the seam and bang the hard lengths. He is roughly six feet tall and has big shoulders.
In contrast to Mukesh, Kamboj attacked the top of the off stump, providing no breadth and forcing the hitters to play every ball. One such delivery, the first of Kamboj’s third over, had defeated Ben McKinney, the tall Durham starter with a high backlift.
Next ball, Kamboj delivered from near the stumps, placed on the top band of good length, and slipped past McKinney’s outside edge to uproot the off stump while shaping the ball from middle to off.
Soon after, Kamboj ought to have taken his second wicket. Dhruv Jurel, the wicketkeeper, put down a sitter after Emilio Gay nicked a delivery that rushed past his outside edge.
India A was annoyed by the careless fielding because it resulted in multiple misfields, including another life for Haines. He struck hard at a wide delivery outside off stump from Harshit Rana on 83, which went to Abhimanyu Easwaran, the point fielder. The ball crashed through after the India A skipper threw himself to his right in an attempt to make a double-handed grab.
After starting the season with two hundreds for Sussex in April, Haines would shortly celebrate his 15th first-class century and his third this summer. Haines, one of the top run producers in County Championships, demonstrated why he is considered one of the best top-order hitters by snagging every scoring opportunity. His cause was aided by the Indian bowlers’ wide, short, or overly straight sprays.
However, the pitch had slowed and flattened, which made batting simpler. Haines stated that you have to “really smash the pitch to get something out of it” following the play of the day. Nevertheless, throughout the afternoon, the Lions scored at a rate of more over four runs per over, which the visitors would have preferred to control.