Openers give India A solid start

India A reached 91 for the loss of one wicket at stumps on Day 1 of the two-day practice match against Bangladesh at the Gymkhana Ground in Hyderabad today.

Opener PK Panchal was batting on 40 with Sreyash Iyer on 29 after skipper Abhinav Mukund gave was dismissed by Subhashis Roy for 16 in the 11th over with 42 runs on the board.

Earlier, Bangladesh declared their first innings at 224 for 8 in 67 overs.

Liton Das was unbeaten on 23 from 35 balls while Taijul Islam was giving him company with four runs from 19 deliveries when Bangladesh declared their innings. Mushfiqur Rahim’s 58 was the highest of the innings, with Soumya Sarkar contributing with 52.

For India A, Ankit Choudhary was the pick of the bowlers, and he took four wickets for 26 runs in ten probing overs. Chama Milind, Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem and Kuldeep Yadav captured a wicket each

Bangladesh lost their eighth wicket when Mehedi Hasan Miraz was trapped in front for a golden-duck by Aniket Choudhary to leave the tourists at 8-206 inside 61 overs.

Mushfiqur was the seventh wicket to fall when he was dismissed for 58 runs in the 61st over. Mushfiqur faced 106 balls for his useful knock that contained eight fours and massive six.

The 71-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Mushfiqur Rahim and Sabbir Rahman was broken by Vijay Shankar in the 54th over to leave Bangladesh at 6-184.

Sabbir was lbw for 33. He faced 68 balls and struck five fours and a six in his handy innings. Both Mushfiqur and Sabbir tried to apply themselves and batted sensibly during their partnership that lasted 21.1 overs

Mahmudullah Riyad became the fifth wicket to fall for Bangladesh as the tourists were in a spot of bother at 5-113 inside 33 overs.

Mahmudullah faced 49 deliveries and scored 23 runs with four boundaries to his name. The fifth wicket partnership between him and captain Mushfiqur yielded 24 runs in 8.4 overs. Kuldeep Yadav, the slow left-arm chinaman sent back the Bangladesh batsman for his first wicket of the game.

Soumya Sarkar’s blistering fifty helped Bangladesh reach 92 after 26 overs for the loss of four wickets. Soumya was sent back for 52. He faced 73 balls and smashed nine fours and a six in his attractive knock.

He was struck in front of the wickets by the left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem. Mominul Haque was the third wicket to fall when he was dimmissed by Aniket Choudhary in the 18th over.

Mominul made five runs from 20 balls. Tamim Iqbal lasted 23 balls before he was bowled by Aniket for 13 in the tenth over. Opener Imrul Kayes was the first casualty of the day when he was dismissed for four in the fifth over.

Bangladesh won the toss and decided to bat in their lone two-day practice game against India A. It was a good toss to win because it allowed Mushfiqur Rahim’s men to have some much-needed batting practice ahead of their one-off Test against India that starts at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium on February 9.

Bangladesh rested pace bowlers -- Taskin Ahmed and Kamrul Islam Rabbi -- and all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan in the practice game.

Scores in brief:

Bangladesh 224 for 8 (dec): Mushfiqur 58, Sabbir 33, Mahmudullah 23, Liton 23 not out; Aniket 4-26

India A 91 for 1: Panchal 40, Iyer 29 not out, Subhashis 1-11, Taskin 0-25