The India A bowlers were made to toil as the England Lions ended Day 3 on 527 for seven on Sunday, June 1. Tom Haines’ 171 and Dan Mousley and Max Holden’s hundreds helped the hosts cut down the deficit to just 30 runs in Canterbury.

Haines and Holden, who were both unbeaten at the end of Day 2, put on a partnership of 181 runs for the third wicket and it was the cornerstone of the England Lions innings. Haines then added another partnership with Mousley, which yielded 93 runs. Mousley then put on 108 runs alongside Zaman Akther, who remains unbeaten on 38 runs. For India A, it was a day of toil in the middle as none of the bowlers apart from Mukesh Kumar created an impact.

The Bengal pacer picked up three wickets in quick succession as he dismissed Holden, James Rew and Rehan Ahmed just during the pre-lunch session. Mukesh ended the day with figures of 3 for 75 in 21 overs while the rest struggled for consistency.

The duo of Shardul Thakur and Nitish Kumar Reddy, who could be in a direct fight for the all-rounder’s spot for the first Test between India and England, bowled a total of 32 overs with Shardul getting just one wicket. Both of them lacked any sort of penetration, with Nitish finding his rhythm in his second spell.

Shardul dismissed Haines, who looked destined for a double ton, but the credit should go to Sarfaraz Khan as he took a one-hand stunner to send the England Lions opener back to the pavilion. Harshit Rana bowled 22 overs and conceded 84 runs while Anshul Kamboj showed some spirit and restricted the England batters a bit on the flat track.

Just ahead of stumps, there was some delight for Karun Nair as he trapped Mousley in front of the stumps to end his stay at the crease on 113. In the end, the hosts scored a total of 290 runs on Sunday.