India A Vs England Lions, 1st Unofficial Test Day 3 Highlights: ENG-A Frustrate IND-A To Shrink Lead To 30 Runs

A very good afternoon to everyone tuning in for our live coverage of the India A vs England Lions, Day 3 match today at Canterbury. The action begins at 3:30 PM IST, so stay tuned for pre-match updates.

England Lions currently trail by 320 runs at stumps on Day 2, after India A posted a total of 557 in the first innings.

The first unoffiical Test match between England Lions and India A will not be telecast on TV channels, but it will be live-streamed on the England Cricket Board (ECB) website, as well as the England Cricket app.

Batters:

Max Holden 64*(61)

Tom Haines 103*(147)

Bowlers:

Shardul Thakur 37/0 (10)

Harsh Dubey 58/1 (14)

Just as a recap, this is the playing XIs for both teams for the first unofficial Test:

India A: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran (c), Karun Nair, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shardul Thakur, Harsh Dubey, Anshul Kamboj, Harshit Rana, Mukesh Kumar

England Lions: Tom Haines, Ben McKinney, Emilio Gay, Max Holden, James Rew (c), Dan Mousley, Rehan Ahmed, Zaman Akhter, Eddie Jack, Josh Hull, Ajeet Singh Dale

Day 3 is underway, with Anshul Kamboj bowling to Holden. Stay tuned for regular updates from the first unofficial Test.

LIONS: 237/2 (52) - Trail by 320 runs

Easwaran has stuck with his medium pacers at the moment, with Kamboj and Harshit Rana bowling three tight overs. However, England Lions have managed to keep rotating the strike, scoring seven runs.

LIONS: 244/2 (55) - Trail by 313 runs

England Lions players have struck a few boundaries, especially against Harshit Rana. Holden is batting at 88. Will we see a century so early on Day 3?

LIONS: 275/2 (62) - Trail by 282 runs

The runs are coming in quickly for England Lions at the moment. 24 runs in the last three overs - and only one boundary in that. Terrific strike rotation between the two English batters on the pitch.

The twos and threes are adding up, and Holden is now batting at 99. He follows it up with a superb boundary off Shardul Thakur, to reach his hundred.

LIONS: LIONS: 312/2 (67) - Trail by 245 runs

Unlucky!! Just after Holden reached his hundred, Mukesh Kumar gets the big break for India A, dismissing the 27-year-old batter, getting a caught-behind from Dhruv Jurel.

Max Holden 101(101) c Jurel b Mukesh

Mukesh Kumar is finding form at the right time. In his last four overs, he has taken out three England A batters and the pacer is breathing fire right now. He got the well set Max Holden first and then got the wicket of opposition captain James Rew. And now he has just dismissed the England international Rehan Ahmed.

ENG A 333/5 trail by 224 runs

Lunch Break!

ENGA 333/5 (75)

Tom Haines has touched 150. What an innings he is playing. Really played some good cricket and kept his calm throughout this innings. He has cashed in on bad balls and paid respect to good balls.

ENG A 363/5 (84) trail by 194 runs

Fifty partnership between Dan Mousley and Tom Haines. The duo is taking its time and is looking at ease. Anshul Kamboj is bowling very well for India and his figures currently read 18 overs, two maidens, 50 runs and one wicket.

ENG A 377/5 (89) trail by 180 runs

England Lions have crossed 400 now. A very good partnership going on between Dan Mousley and Tom Haines. India A bowlers have been put under pressure and they have consistently provided their opponents with loose balls to capitalise on.

ENGA 401/5 (94) trail by 156 runs

Tea has been taken and it is another session that will go the England Lions batters. Dan Mousley and Tom Haines have been really, really good and kept the pressure on the India A bowlers who have not been really disciplined apart from a few.

ENG A 413/5 (98) trail by 144 runs

Finally, India see the back of Tom Haines. Shardul Thakur with the massive wicket and India A celebrate. 171 off 279 from Haines who walks back after a brilliant innings and he has really, really tested this inexperienced bowling unit of India A.

ENGA 422/6 (103) trail by 135 runs

Drinks are on the field now. England Lions are now wagging through their tail. No easy wickets for the Indian bowlers. English batters are making India A bowlers toil hard for any success. Meanwhile, Dan Mousley has moved to 72 and is looking really good.

ENGA 454/6 (109) trail by 103 runs

ENGA 509/6 (120) trail by 48 runs

Dan Mousley gets to his century. What an innings. He has really stood out with his temperament and strokeplay. 103 off 147 balls and he is still going strong. What a performance.

What an end to the day. Karun Nair has dismissed Dan Mousley on the last ball of the third day and Indians are overjoyed. Nair came to bowl the last over of the day and he just forces Mousley to miss a straight ball and the umpire adjudges him out lbw. Mousley dismissed after a brilliant century and that will be it for the day.

Stumps

England Lions: 527/7 (124 Ovs), trail by 30 runs

That will be it from our side on this gam. We will be back tomorrow with Day 4. Do join in. Thank you for reading.