Patel, Yuvraj shine in draw

India A 124 for 4 (Rahane 54, Anderson 2-20) and 369 (Tiwary 93, Bresnan 3-59) drew with England XI 426 (Cook 119, Patel 104, Yuvraj 5-94)

James Anderson picked up two early wickets in the second innings © AFP

Two players vying for the No.6 spots in India's and England's Test teams put forward strong claims in the first tour game which ended in a draw in at the Brabourne Stadium. Samit Patel, unbeaten on 82 on the second day, went on to complete his century while Yuvraj Singh collected a five-wicket haul to add to his first-day half-century.

Overall, England XI had a productive outing as two of their batsmen scored hundreds to help them to 426 in the first innings, 57 more than the hosts. Their fast bowlers then accounted for three of the four wickets to fall to reduce India A to 124 for 4 after 40 overs just before the captains agreed to a draw. Both England spinners - Graeme Swann and Patel - also bowled long spells in the match and were moderately successful. The only concern for England will be Steven Finn, who pulled out on the first day after a niggle in his right thigh and took no further part in the match.

England started the day 83 behind and lost Alastair Cook in the fifth over of the morning after he had added only seven runs to his overnight 112. Patel, however, carried on in the company of Matt Prior, who scored a quick half-century, and shared a 65-run stand that took England two runs short of leveling India A's score.

Yuvraj then showed the value of his left-arm spin when he broke the aggressive stand with the wicket of Patel and had Prior out in the same over. But Tim Bresnan constructed two important partnerships with Swann and James Anderson to take England past 400. Yuvraj broke the ninth-wicket stand and completed his five-for with Anderson's wicket and the innings folded as the injured Finn didn't come out to bat.

India A's top order, which has a number of Test team hopefuls, struggled to make any impact in response. First innings' half-centurion Abhinav Mukund fell in the third over while M Vijay failed to build after a start. Yuvraj was the third to fall before the score crossed the century mark. He scored 14. Ajinkya Rahane scored a half-century but fell towards the end of the day for 54. Anderson accounted for both the openers in his seven-over spell while Bresnan and Patel shared a wicket each.

England will play their next warm-up match against Mumbai A from November 3 in Mumbai.

© ESPN EMEA Ltd.