Taunton: Indian bowlers continued to cut a sorry figure as Somerset piled up an impressive 241 for one at tea on the first day of the three-day warm-up game here on Friday.
After England skipper Andrew Strauss helped himself to 78 in the first session, opener Arul Suppiah (92 not out) and Nick Compton (58 not out) struck half centuries to power the county to 238 for one before rain arrived just before the tea break.
Neither the bowlers returning from injury – Zaheer Khan and S Sreesanth – nor the ones fresh from the Caribbean tour – Munaf Patel and Amit Mishra – could show heart as the locals piled up the runs with ease.
To add to their woes, Mishra’s bowling hand was struck by a fiercely back-driven shot from Suppiah, and the leg-spinner had to leave the field half an hour before tea. It was Mishra’s 15th over, the 53rd of the innings, and Somerset were 210 for one.
India had an opportunity when Compton, then on 24, was dropped by Sachin Tendulkar at midwicket off a mistimed pull against Sreesanth.
Compton’s dropped chance apart, the Somerset batsmen imposed themselves in impressive style, on a pitch that aided strokeplay.
The stroke of the day came from Compton when he stretched fully forward to drive Zaheer between extra cover and mid-off for a four.
Despite the poor performance, Indians would not be too worked up ahead of the first Test for they tend to take warm-up games lightly.
Earlier, England captain Andrew Strauss found his form back with a stroke-filled 79 as Indian bowlers struggled in the first session of their warm-up game against Somerset.
Strauss, making a guest appearance for Somerset, won his much-anticipated first-round battle against left-arm swing bowler Zaheer Khan, who bowled eight overs without success on the first morning.
The left-hander rarely looked in trouble on a featherbed, smashing 16 fours during his 112 minutes’ stay at the crease.
Strauss had a couple of close calls though – when on 20 he was lucky to survive a LBW shout against Zaheer – and then wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha dropped him off leg-spinner Amit Mishra on 64.
The attacking batsman, with a history of being troubled by left-arm medium-pacers, and with just 27 runs from three Tests in the preceding series against Sri Lanka, was in his elements from the word go, hitting Zaheer for two fours.
He followed them up with a couple of pushes down the ground for boundaries and nearly always got value for his shots against the tourists who appeared to have lost interest after a while. (PTI)