Haines ton leads strong Lions reply after Nair's 204 gives India A 557

If you put up a total over 550, you think you are in command. Yet, India A were made to work hard for a lot of the second day as Sussex top-order batter Tom Haines led England Lions' fightback with a resolute century in response to the imposing 557 in Canterbury.

It was a contrasting start and end to the day for the visiting side. In the first hour, Karun Nair celebrated his fourth first-class double-century. Nair, who last year played county cricket for Northampton, joined an exclusive club of Indian batters to score multiple double-centuries in England in the process. His seven-plus-hour vigil came to an end as Zaman Akhter forced an inside edge that went into the gloves of James Rew behind the wickets.

Nair had shown patience, composure and solid defensive technique during his 435-minute stay that lasted 281 balls as the runs came at a decent clip. His 204 included 26 fours and a six. As he walked back with the Lions players rushing to congratulate him, and the 1700-plus crowd giving him a standing ovation, Nair would think he had put himself in pole position to stake a claim for a slot in the India batting order for the first Test against England in Leeds, starting June 20.

India A finished after 125.1 overs, and the focus was now on the bowlers after the Lions began their second innings just over an hour after lunch. The new ball was shared by Mukesh Kumar and Anshul Kamboj. While Mukesh struggled to find his lines and rhythm, Kamboj was disciplined.

A strong unit, broad-shouldered, just about six-feet tall, Kamboj can bang the hard lengths and move the ball off the seam. Unlike Mukesh, Kamboj offered no width and forced the batters to play every ball as he attacked the top of off stump. Ben McKinney, the tall Durham opener with a high backlift, had been beaten by one such delivery, the first of Kamboj's third over (the sixth of the innings). Next ball, delivering from close to the stumps, Kamboj pitched on the top band of good length and managed to shape the ball from middle to off while sneaking past McKinney's outside edge to uproot the off stump.

Kamboj should have had his second wicket soon after: Emilio Gay nicked a delivery, but wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel put down the sitter. Soon after, Shardul Thakur, early in his first spell, should have had Haines. Then on 11, Haines poked at a fifth-stump delivery, but Sarfaraz Khan, at second slip, failed to latch on to a low attempt to his left. Annoyed, Thakur momentarily stood in teapot stance.

The sloppy fielding became a cause for annoyance for India A. There were several misfields, including another life to Haines when, on 83, he slashed hard at a wide delivery outside off from Harshit Rana, which flew to point fielder Abhimanyu Easwaran. The India A captain threw himself to his right to attempt a double-handed catch but the ball burst through.

Haines would soon celebrate his 15th first-class century, and his third so far this summer, having started the season with two centuries in April for Sussex. Haines, who is among the leading run-makers in the County Championship, showed why he is rated among the best top-order batters around as he did not let go of any scoring opportunities. The Indian bowlers helped his cause by spraying the ball wide and short, or going too straight.

He was also fluent against Harsh Dubey, who was a late entrant into the India A squad. Haines was comfortable reading the left-arm spinner, especially utilising the sweep and reverse sweep to good effect while also playing it late and being mindful of the arm ball Dubey used frequently.

The pitch, though, had flattened and become slower, making batting easier. Haines said after the day's play that the bowlers had to "really smash the pitch to get something out of it". Still, the Indians would have liked to control the scoring tempo, which was over four runs an over through the afternoon.

Two bowlers the Indian team management would want to look at during the two four-day games are Thakur and Nitish Kumar Reddy. While both went wicketless, Thakur showed more control, conceding 37 runs in his ten overs, including a maiden. Reddy, whose inclusion as an allrounder for the England tour has become a talking point considering he had barely bowled in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, was brought in about half-an-hour before the close of play. He went for 27 runs in three overs and was quickly replaced.