New Delhi: India A defeated the visiting England team by 53 runs in a shortened match here on Sunday.
This was the first of the two practice limited-overs matches England are to play ahead of the five-match bilateral series against India starting January 11. England will next play Delhi on Tuesday at the Ferozshah Kotla.
Put in to bat, India A benefited most from skipper Abhinav Mukund (57), Murali Vijay (76) and Kedar Jadhav (52) to take India A to 224-4. Bad light during the innings shortened the match to 39 overs a side.
Despite a heroic 91 by skipper Ian Bell while chasing a revised target of 229 runs in 39 overs under the Duckworth-Lewis method, England fell short by 53 runs. Kevin Pietersen opened the batting and was out for 19. (IANS)
