England XI share honours with MCA XI

England XI had a good outing today at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. On the second and final day of the two-day match against Mumbai Cricket Association President's XI, played on Monday, England XI amassed 370/3 in 90 overs, in reply to MCA XI's 373/5. The match ended in a predictable draw.

England got off to a solid start in the morning. Marcus Trescothick was as always in an attacking mood, pulling the medium-pacer Aavishkar Salvi for a six. Trescothick played some cracking shots to the fence as the bowlers erred in line and length. In contrast, Mark Butcher found the attack not to his liking. He made batting look a difficult task and inched forward as if treading through a minefield.

Trescothick was the star of the morning's play, using his feet to tackle the spinners and showing positive approach. He walked down the track and smacked two huge sixes over long-on off the bowling of Nilesh Kulkarni to move from 48 to 60. The Somerset opener lost his wicket to aggression, going for a sweep of Ramesh Powar and top-edging the ball to Kambli at square leg. Trescothick made 60 off 68 balls with the help of three sixes and six boundaries.

Michael Vaughan didn't do any better than Butcher; he was very tentative in his brief stay in the middle. Vaughan (2) pushed forward at a delivery from Kulkarni and the faint edge was well taken by wicketkeeper Abhijit Shetye.

Nasser Hussain walked in to join Butcher at the score of 91/2 and immediately made his intentions clear by lofting Kulkarni for four. Soon after the luncheon break Butcher (33 off 104 balls) put an end to his misery by running himself out. Thorpe joined Hussain and the two most experienced batsmen in the side went on about their task without any fuss. There was nothing in the bowling to suggest that they were threatening to take a wicket.

Hussain and Thorpe punished the bowling all around the park. Hussain was the aggressive of the two, smashing his way to 70 retired hurt off 125 balls, which included seven boundaries and three huge sixes. Thorpe was keen on gathering the runs, waiting for the ball till the last moment to play it on both sides of the wicket. The amount of time that is this stylish left-hander from Surrey has to play the strokes is amazing to see.

Thorpe made 45 off 83 balls, striking four boundaries and took England XI to 232/3 at the tea break. Thorpe too retired hurt to pave way for Craig White and Mark Ramprakash to have a go after the tea break.

England XI scored 138 runs off the 28 overs, which was also the fourth wicket partnership between the two batsmen. Ramprakash remained unbeaten on 58 off 96 balls, striking five boundaries. The highlight of the session's play was the explosive batting by Craig White.

The Yorkshire all-rounder struck five huge sixes and seven boundaries in his whirlwind unbeaten knock of 79 runs off 73 balls. White was simply superb against the spinners, using his feet to smack the ball high and over the fielders. Ramprakash too played a fine hand, showing good technique against the spin trio.

England can take heart from the performance of their batsmen, which will be crucial in the Test series. Trescothick, Hussain, Thorpe, Ramprakash and White are all in good form. Unlike many visiting teams who struggle in the tour opener, England showed lot of resolve and character on a hot Monday afternoon, giving away nothing to the home side.