Scorecard
India A turned the tables on the wilting heat at Grace Road, beating England Lions for the first time in the tri-series after being comfortably beaten at Derby last week.
Amidst a good batting surface, the Lions had a miserable start by losing their first three batsmen within eight overs, from which they never recovered while chasing a total they would have fancied themselves to reach.
If they are to secure their spot in the final at The Oval on Monday, they must defeat West Indies A at Northampton on Thursday; however, even if beaten, they would still qualify having won their opening two matches, if India beats West Indies on Friday.
This talented India side has displayed impressive form lately, defeating the West Indians with almost 12 overs to spare here on Monday and clinching victory over England by a comfortable margin, even after leaving out Deepak Chahar, who had taken five wickets in the game.
It was a disappointing performance by the Lions, who had left the field relatively pleased with themselves at the end of their opponents’ innings.
India A had a strong start, being 100 without loss after 15 overs, yet they may have felt they could have capitalized more on such a foundation.
Parkinson, the 21-year-old Lancashire legspinner, displayed impressive character, holding his own after a challenging initial spell and contributing effectively in the latter part of the innings.
Barnard, who was added to the squad after the opening two matches in the tri-series following an injury to Craig Overton, was the pick of the seamers, producing probably the delivery of the innings, finding extra bounce to dismiss Gill.
The most frustrating point for England will be that most of their batsmen played themselves in but failed to capitalize on their starts. Dawson’s 38 was their highest score and the top three, apart from him, were mostly the architects of their own demise.
It was an exciting match, especially for the schoolchildren mainly wearing India replica shirts, who had a special day out. Gill, aged 18 and the leading batsman in India’s victorious Under-19 World Cup team, is clearly a top-class player in the making, while Agarwal’s remarkable performance indicates an impending international breakthrough at the top level.
The 27-year-old ended the Indian domestic season with 2,141 runs, a record aggregate for an individual batsman across all formats. His first-class average was 105.45, and his 723 runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy was the most by any Indian player in a List A tournament, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s 673 at the 2003 World Cup.
