Mongia guides India 'A' to victory

Dinesh Mongia hit 116 and Sridharan Sriram made 92 to steer India 'A' to a 55-run victory over England 'A' in the first of the three-match one-day series in Bangalore on Monday.

A 209-run second wicket stand between Mongia and Sriram enabled the hosts pile up 324 for four in 50 overs after being put into bat at M Chinnaswamy stadium.

In reply, England 'A' finished on 269 for 9 in 50 overs.

The visitors tasted early success as opener Gautam Gambhir (13) departed cheaply. But Mongia, who hit 12 fours in his 131-ball knock, and Sriram, whose 99-ball innings was studded with eight fours and one six, frustrated the rival attack, which clearly lacked sting.

Sajid Mahmood picked two wickets for 58 runs, while Kevin Pietersen and Graham Wagg scalped one each.

Mithun Manhas remained unbeaten on 42 (30b, 4x4), and Jai Prakash Yadav contributed 30 (21b, 1x4, 2x6) as the Indians scored at a brisk pace with the touring bowlers struggling to make inroads.

England went into the encounter with a depleted side as captain Alex Gidman and Test discard Simon Jones missed the tie due to injuries.

England 'A' started the victory chase on a promising note as openers Ed Smith (30) and Matthew Prior (41) put on a 73-run partnership. But, therafter, the tourists lost direction with wickets falling at regular intervals. They were 175 for seven wickets in the 38th over.

Stand-in captain James Tredwell made a quickfire 48 off 43 balls and added 75 runs for the eighth wicket with Graham Napier, who top-scored for his side with 61 made off 62 balls with two fours and three sixes, but that did not help matters as the asking rate was pretty high.

The visitors ended up on 269 for 9 in 50 overs.

India 'A' skipper Sairaj Bahutule was the most successful bowler taking three wickets for 49 runs.

Scoreboard

India 'A':
D Mongia c Napier b Mahmood 116
G Gambhir c Prior b Mahmood 13
S Sriram c Tredwell b Pietersen 92
Jai Prakash Yadav c Lumb b Wagg 30
Mithun Manhas not out 42
Ramesh Powar not out 18

Extras: (lb-2, nb-4, w-7) 13

Total: (for 4 wkts, 50 overs) 324

Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-232, 3-238, 4-295.

Bowling: Sajid Mahmood 10-0-58-2, Graham Wagg 8-0-55-1, Simon Francis 8-0-47-0; Graham Napier 10-0-55-0; James Tredwell 9-0-61-0; Bilal Shafayat 3-0-25-0; Kevin Pietersen 2-0-21-1.

England 'A':
Ed Smith b J P Yadav 30
Matthew Prior c M Patel b Bahutule 41
Michael Lumb run out 5
Kevin Pietersen st. Ratra b Bahutule 4
Kadeer Ali c G Gambhir b Bahutule 12
Bilal Shafayat c R Powar b Mongia 28
Graham Napier c & b Powar 61
Graham Wagg c G Gambhir b Sriram 5
James Tredwell not out 48
Sajid Mahmood b S S Paul 4

Extras: (lb-8, nb-5, w-18) 31

Total: (for 9 wkts, in 50 overs) 269

Fall of wickets: 1-73, 2-83, 3-86, 4-88, 5-113, 6-163, 7-175, 8-250, 9-269.

Bowling: Munaf Patel 8-0-40-0; S S Paul 8-0-34-1; J P Yadav 5-0-37-1; S Bahutule; 10-0-49-3; Ramesh Powar 9-0-40-1; Dinesh Mongia 6-0-32-1; S Sriram 4-0-29-1.