India A draw first blood in Bangalore

50 overs India A 324 for 4 (Mongia 116, Sriram 92) beat England A 269 for 9 (Napier 61, Bahutule 3-49) by 55 runs
Scorecard

Despite a public roasting from their coach, Rod Marsh, England A crashed to their third tour defeat in a row, as India A overwhelmed them by 55 runs in Bangalore.

After winning the toss and choosing to bowl first, England were filleted by a 209-run second-wicket partnership between Sridharan Sriram (92) and India's World Cup finalist Dinesh Mongia, who top-scored with 116. When Mithun Manhas followed up with a brisk 42 not out, India had posted a formidable total of 324 for 4 in their 50 overs.

In mitigation, England were without two of their key players. Simon Jones continues to ease his way back to full fitness and missed the match with a sore knee, while their captain Alex Gidman was also forced to look on from the sidelines, after injuring his hand prior to England's arrival. In his absence, the captaincy passed to James Tredwell.

There were few silver linings in England's fielding performance. Although Sajid Mahmood claimed the wickets of both openers, Mongia and Gautam Gambhir, his 10 overs disappeared for 58 runs. And the back-up bowling was flogged - Bilal Shafayat and Kevin Pietersen bowled five overs between them, and conceded 46.

In response, Essex's Graham Napier top-scored with 61, and Tredwell - primarily a bowler - rose to the occasion with 48 not out, but it was a forlorn pursuit. The pair added 75 for the eighth wicket after Sairaj Bahutule had grabbed three early wickets to reduce England to 175 for 7.

Although England had started promisingly through the efforts of Ed Smith (30) and Matt Prior (41), the middle order fared poorly with Pietersen, Michael Lumb and Kadeer Ali contributing 21 runs between them. There was little but pride to play for by the end, as they were restricted to 269 for 9.