Ajinkya Rahane scored 91 off 117 deliveries in the 2nd unofficial ODI vs England Lions
India A thrashed England Lions by 138 runs in the second unofficial ODI to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series on Friday at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram.
Captain Ajinka Rahane, Hanuma Vihari and Shreyas Iyer starred with the bat for the hosts as India 'A' posted 303/6 from their 50 overs. Mayank Markande and Axar Patel then followed up the good work as the visitors were bowled out for 165.
The match turned out to be less competitive compared to the first ODI as the experience of the Indian squad proved to be critical for the home side.
Sam Billings won the toss and asked the Rahane-led side to bat first and James Porter responded brilliantly by dismissing Anmolpreet Singh early but Rahane and Vihari settled in quickly and applied themselves well to form a formidable partnership.
The duo almost played 30 overs and put together 181 runs for the second wicket before Vihari fell to Will Jacks for a 83-ball 92 and he was followed suit by Rahane, who scored 91 off 117 deliveries. Vihari hit eight fours and four sixes while Rahane managed to hit four sixes.
Iyer then walked in and made full use of the situation and smacked 65 off 47 to power the total past 300.
In their reply, England lost Ben Duckett and Sam Hain early inside the first six overs and could never recover from it.
The onus now was on Billings, who scored a century in the first ODI and Alex Davies but once Billings fell to Markande, it was difficult for the visitors to kick on. Ollie Pope followed soon enough with England Lions tottering at 62/4. Davies tried his best but fell in the 21st over and it was more or less over for the visitors.
Lewis Gregory (39 off 46) tried his best to delay India A's win before the batting side was finally all-out for 165 in the 38th over.
Markande returned with figures of 3/32 off 8.4 overs while Patel gave away only 13 runs and took two wickets from his nine overs.
The third unofficial ODI will be held at the same venue on Sunday.
Brief scores:
India A 303/6 in 50 overs (Hanuma Vihari 92, Ajinkya Rahane 91, Shreyas Iyer 65; Zak Chappell 2-47) beat England Lions 165 in 37.4 overs (Alex Davies 48; Mayank Markande 3-32, Axar Patel 2-13) by 138 runs.
