Sam Hain impresses
Warwickshire’s Sam Hain and Surrey’s Ollie Pope both made half-centuries to help England Lions to a draw in their first unofficial Test against India A at the Krishnagiri Stadium in Wayanad.
Starting the fourth and final day 180 runs in arrears and following the departures of openers Ben Duckett (30) and Max Holden (29), Hain and Pope shared a 105-run stand to steady proceedings.
Pope registered 10 fours in his 63 before being caught behind off slow left-armer Shahbaz Nadeem on the stroke of tea before Hain (57) was pinned lbw by off-spinner Jalaj Saxena.
With the Lions reaching 214 for five, captains Sam Billings and Ankit Bawane shook hands for the draw.
Lions head coach Andy Flower said: “There were two good knocks from Hain, who batted really calmly and showed good method. It was good that Pope got in and what we’d really like to see is our guys getting in and scoring hundreds.
“For our guys to make the transition to Test cricket, they need to be able to score big in these games so Mysore will be another good challenge for us.”
