England Lions and India A began the first match of their five-match series at the Greenfield Stadium, Trivandrum.

India A won the toss and Ajinkya Rahane chose to field first. Alex Davies (54) gave the Lions a good start, which was carried forward by captain Sam Billings, who slammed an unbeaten 108* with 5 fours and 4 sixes. Ben Duckett, Sam Hain, and Will Jacks contributed with scores of 20 odd runs. England Lions ended with 285/7 in their 50 overs.

For India, Siddharth Kaul picked 3/54, while Mayank Markande and Akshar Patel picked two wickets each.

India’s chase was anchored by skipper Rahane’s 87-ball 59 with 4 fours, while Anmolpreet (33), Shreyas Iyer (45) and Krunal Pandya (29) helped the score moved forward. Ishan Kishan, India A wicketkeeper took the responsibility to take the team past the finishing line, as the Lions’ bowlers made it a close contest.

Zak Chappell picked three wickets, while Lewis Gregory and Danny Briggs chipped in with two wickets each.

Ishan Kishan proved to be the roadblock in England’s victory as he scored a remaining 57* in 48 balls with 5 fours and 1 six, as India A won the match in the last over by 3 wickets.

BRIEF SCORES:
ENG-LIONS 285/7 (S BILLINGS 108*; S KAUL 3/54) lost to IND-A 288/7 (A RAHANE 59; Z CHAPPELL 3/84) by 3 wickets