Cheteshwar Pujara and all-rounder Stuart Binny led India's reply with the bat on Day 2 of the second warm-up match against second division English County side Derbyshire on Thursday at the County Ground, Derby.
India managed to score 341 runs for the loss of six wickets, in reply of Derbyshire's total of 326. Binny (82 not out) and Ajinkya Rahane (13 not out) were at the crease when Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni declared the innings.
Pujara played with grit and determination for his 131-ball 81 and never put a foot wrong, while leaving accurate deliveries outside-off before batting freely later in the day. He made 63-run partnership with Virat Kohli for the third wicket after the visitors lost openers cheaply.
Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay looked solid early in the innings and left deliveries outside the off-stump. However, they only added six runs each but looked well equipped to cope pace attack in the first Test, starting 9 July in Trent Bridge.
Kohli looked solid for his 91-ball 35 but he edged Ben Cotton's delivery onto the stumps. Cotton was the most impressive bowler for the hosts as he finished with figures of 25 for two, while David Wainwright also took two wickets and Mark Turner picked one.
Skipper Dhoni spent decent time on the crease and stitched 119-run partnership with Pujara for the fourth wicket. The Indian captain looked edgy initially but played with freedom and added 46 runs to the total before being castled by Wainwright.
Ravindra Jadeja (45) also got decent batting practice and made an 88-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Binny, who remained unbeaten for the visitors. Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma didn't get a chance to bat on the second day.
Earlier on first day, Derbyshire batsmen toyed with Indian bowlers as opener Ben Slater, Billy Godleman, Wes Durston and Harvey Hosein made fine fifties. Left-arm spinner Jadeja was the pick of the bowlers as he took two wickets, while Pankaj Singh, Ishwar Pandey and Stuart Binny took one wicket each.
Where to Watch Live
The third day's action between Derbyshire and India is scheduled for 11:00 am local time (3:30 pm IST, 10:00 am GMT and 6:00 am ET) start. Catch the live scores and ball-by-ball updates HERE, HERE or HERE. The action can also be listened live on BBC HERE, HERE or HERE. Viewers can also live stream the match on Willow TV HERE.
