England Lions seamer Matthew Fisher ripped through the India A top order on day two of the first of three unofficial Tests between the two sides at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The touring team followed up an outstanding opening day with a similarly emphatic performance on day two. Resuming play on 382-3, England Lions skipper Josh Bohannon soon passed his century – his 11th in first-class cricket – before falling for 125. His first-class average now stands at 48.42.
Handy contributions from Dan Mousley (65), Matt Potts (44 not out) and Jack Carson (53 not out) took England Lions to 553-8 when Bohannon called his batters in to end the Lions’ first innings.
Confronted by an imposing first innings total, India A wilted under the pressure of an outstanding new-ball spell from Fisher. Fisher struck with his first ball in slightly fortuitous fashion as Sai Sudharsan – one of the four capped players in the India A line-up – edged the ball down the leg-side to wicketkeeper Ollie Robinson.
If there was an element of luck in the first wicket, the second belonged fully to Fisher’s skill as he beat India A captain Abhimanyu Easwaran’s inside edge with an in-swinger that clipped the off bail. The ball that dismissed the prolific Sarfaraz Khan was also a peach; the ball started far enough outside off stump that Sarfaraz motioned to leave the delivery, only for it to swing in and strike his unprotected off stump.
A fourth wicket for Fisher soon followed with Pradosh Ranjan Paul fending a short delivery to Brydon Carse at mid-on. At this point, India A were 26-4.
After brief resistance from KS Bharat, Matt Potts struck twice in an over to leave India A 50-6 and in total disarray. Rajat Patidar – who has one ODI cap for India – then launched a stunning counter-attack to return some respectability to the India A match situation.
Patidar took a particular liking to England Lions’ spin duo of Jack Carson and Callum Parkinson, the former of whom saw his first four overs disappear for 42 runs. Patidar eventually finished day two on 140* with India A 215-8 to follow up his hundred in the first warm-up game between the two sides.
For Fisher, it was a welcome return to action. After taking a wicket in his first over in Test cricket – in what remains his sole Test appearance – Fisher has been dogged by injury, only appearing 11 times for Yorkshire in first-class cricket across the 2022 and 2023 English summers. Fisher, alongside Saqib Mahmood and John Turner, was awarded an England Development Contract by the ECB in late 2023.
You can watch Matthew Fisher take four new-ball wickets for England Lions against India A below:
Matt Fisher on fire this morning! ✊
🔥 @9M_Fisherpic.twitter.com/pqNvdwUjXa
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) January 18, 2024
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