Team India was not quite happy with the pitch conditions at the Essex County Ground for their practice game against Essex. It was earlier planned to be a four-day game.
However, due to the heat waves in England and the poor pitch and the outfield conditions, the match was curtailed to the three-day fixture.
On the opening day of the match at Chelmsford, India batted well and ended the day on 322 for six in 84 overs. The visitors were pegged early on in the innings. They lost Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara for just five runs.
Captain Virat Kohli and Murali Vijay shared a good partnership to get India back on track. However, both fell in quick succession. The innings was again resurrected by Dinesh Karthik and KL Rahul.
Karthik batted quite brilliantly and looked in great touch from the outset. Rahul also played a good knock and was eventually dismissed on 58. His innings was studded with some gorgeous shots.
In the end, it was Hardik Pandya and Karthik ensured India ended the day’s play without the loss of any further wickets. Hardik remained unbeaten on 33. Karthik was dismissed without adding any more to his overnight score of 82.
Essex Vs India – Dismissal of Karun Nair:
The match was not given a first-class accreditation. Hence, all the batters were allowed to bat till the No 11th position. Pandya scored a half-century.
Karun Nair, who made a comeback to the squad managed to score only four coming low in the batting order. He was the first wicket for by Aaron Beard.
The left-arm pacer bowled a full-length delivery as Nair got an inside edge and the ball rolled back on to the stumps to the utter disbelief of the batsman.
Eventually, Rishabh Pant came out to bat last. He smashed some exceptional shots and took India beyond the 400 mark. Moreover, the form of the batters will keep India in good stead.
Watch the video:
8⃣ Aaron Beard gets his first wicket of the match, bowling Nair in unusual fashion#ESSvIND
Watch live here: https://t.co/0WMzSvtsrw pic.twitter.com/bavCGmSmaX
— Essex Cricket (@EssexCricket) July 26, 2018
