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Bhardwaj Sai Sudharsan underlined his growing status as a productive top-order batter with a hundred against England Lions, as India A reached a position of strength on the third day of their third unofficial ‘Test’ here on Saturday.
Sudharsan made 117 off 240 balls as India A made 409 in their second innings for an overall lead of 402 runs.
Chasing 403 for an improbable win, the Lions are 83 for two in their second innings at stumps.
Opener Alex Lees is keeping vigil at an unbeaten 41.
They need a further 320 runs on the final day to win and level the series, which the hosts now lead 1-0.
And for all that, India A, resuming from 148 for three, needed to thank Sudharsan who built on his overnight 54 substantially.
India left-hander Rinku Singh made a 25-ball 38 with five fours and a six as India gained early momentum in the first session.
Sudharsan and Rinku made 55 runs for the fourth-wicket stand.
Pacer Matthew Fisher ended Rinku’s stay, castling him. But the home side gained more advantage through Sudharsan and Kumar Kushagra, who added 81 runs for the fifth wicket.
Sudharsan, who smashed 16 fours during his innings, this time did not fail to convert his fifty into a hundred. The 22-year-old Tamil Nadu batter had made a 97 in the previous ‘Test’ against the Lions.
His effort was in stark contrast to his opening partner and skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran’s outings as he has managed just one fifty (58) in five innings against the Lions in this series.
But he fell to Fisher, giving a catch to wicketkeeper Olle Robinson.
India were 320 at that juncture, but found two willing soldiers in Saransh Jain (63, 102 balls) and Akash Deep (31, 47 balls) as they realised 60 runs for the eighth-wicket association to widen the gap between their team and the visitors.
Jain later returned to make more impact when Lions batted as the off-spinner jettisoned in-form Keaton Jennings (27) and Oliver Price (11) to give an early jolt to them.
Brief scores:
India A: 192 and 409 all out in 107.1 overs (Sai Sudharsan 117, Saransh Jain 63, Kumar Kushagra 40, Rinku Singh 38, Tilak Varma 46, Akash Deep 31; James Coles 3/140, Dan Mousley 3/43) vs England Lions: 199 and 83/2 in 24 overs (Alex Lees 41 batting; Saransh Jain 2/16).
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