Cricket news - Duckett, Hain fifties give England Lions early honours

England Lions made a solid start in the first unofficial Test against India A, with half-centuries from Ben Duckett and Sam Hain helping the visitors to 303/5 at Stumps on Day 1 in Wayanad.

Opting to bat first, openers Duckett and Max Holden put on a 82-run stand before the latter fell at the stroke of Lunch as Navdeep Saini provided the hosts a much-needed breakthrough.

Duckett and Hain then put on 48 runs for the second wicket. Duckett, who had reached fifty just before Lunch, couldn't convert his knock into a hundred though, falling 20 short after being bowled by Shardul Thakur.

Lions lost a couple of wickets more in quick succession, on either side of Tea, but Hain dropped anchor at one end and helped bring up the team's 200 in the company of Steven Mullaney. Hain too failed to convert his knock into something substantial, falling for 61 shortly into the final session.

However, Lions were most productive in the final session of the day, adding 113 runs to their total for just two wickets. Mullaney and Will Jacks joined hands to consolidate the innings and had put on 65 runs for the unbroken sixth wicket stand by the time stumps were drawn on the opening day.

Brief scores: England Lions 303/5 (Ben Duckett 80, Sam Hain 61, Will Jacks 40*; Navdeep Saini 2-57) vs India A.