Prior saves England A's day

East Zone 283 and 65 for 3 lead England A 225 (Prior 82*, Paul 5-61) by 123 runs
Scorecard

Matt Prior came to England A's rescue with a vital innings of 82 not out as East Zone had the better of things on the second day of their Duleep Trophy match at Amritsar. England A were bowled out for 225, as Shib Paul took 5 for 61, and East Zone then extended their lead to 123 for the loss of three second-innings wickets.

After their fightback in the field yesterday, England A's reply could not have got off to a worse start. They lost Ed Smith without a run on the board, caught by Arindam Das off Debasis Mohanty. Scott Newman reached only 20 when he was bowled by Paul. However, Michael Lumb and Kevin Pietersen stopped the rot with a stand of 51 before Pietersen was out for 32, caught by Mohanty off the left-arm spin of Utpal Chatterjee. Paul struck again, trapping Lumb lbw for 33, and Kadeer Ali followed soon after in the same way.

Prior and Graham Napier again demonstrated their value in the middle order, adding a valuable 65 to steer England A back to some sort of respectability before Napier was caught by Kiran Powar off Chatterjee for 28.

Prior managed to add another 54 runs with the tail. He lost Graham Wagg for 8 and James Tredwell for just 1, but Sajid Mahmood hung around long enough to help his side past the 200 mark before he and Steve Kirby fell in quick succession.

Mahmood then gave England A some heart before the close, removing both Deep Dasgupta and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Kirby also struck to have Arindam Das caught behind, as East Zone closed at 65 for 3.