An unbeaten knock of 151 by Michael Yardy put England [Images] Lions in a strong position on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy match against West Zone at the Motibag ground in Vadodara.

At the end of day's play, the visitors were 273 for the loss of four wickets.

Electing to bat, England Lions opener Michael Carberry got out cheaply with just one run on the board. However, at the other end, Yardy was involved in three valuable partnerships that helped the team put up a good total.

The second wicket stand between Yardy and Joe Denly added 50 runs. The next man in, Ed Joyce added 75 runs for the third wicket with Yardy while Jon Trott shared a 141-run partnership, which played an important role in stabilising the innings.

• SS Paul has North Zone reeling

Yardy's unbeaten knock of 151 runs contained 20 fours off 291 deliveries in 343 minutes.

Denly, who was dropped by Parthiv Patel off S Trivedi, was run out on 32.

Medium pacer Ashraf Makada claimed all the other three wickets that fell today, ending the day with three for 57.

Scorecard:

England Lions: Ist innings
Michael Carerry lbw b Asharaf Makada 1
Joe Denly run out S.Trivedi 32
Michael Yardy batting 151
Ed Joyce lbw Ashasaf Makada 32
Jon Trott lbw Asharaf Makada 44
Graham Onions batting 0
Extras: (b-4, lb-8, nb-1) 13
Total (in 92 overs for 4 wkts) 273

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-51, 3-126, 4-267

Bowling: S Trivedi 17-0-50-0, Ashraf Makada 16-3-57-3, S Jobanputra 8-3-22-0, Ramesh Powar [Images] 21-1-59-0, Rakesh Dhruve 13-2-38-0, Yusuf Pathan 15-6-24-0, Ajinkya Rahana 2-0-11-0.