Wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow hit aresolute century and put on 156-run partnership with EoinMorgan to rescue England from a precarious position on thefirst day of their three-day warm-up game against Mumbai 'A'here today.
Bairstow (118) and Morgan (73) pulled England out of thewoods by stitching 156 runs for the fifth wicket in just underthree hours after Mumbai 'A' bowlers had threatened to bowlthe visitors out cheaply in the morning session.
The right-handed Bairstow, who hit 15 fours in his stayof 261 minutes, and left-handed Morgan, who struck eight foursand a six in 191 minutes, joined hands when England weretottering at 64 for four at lunch and were separated only inthe final session.
England consolidated their innings further when Bairstowand Samit Patel (59) put on another 107 runs for the sixthwicket to finish the opening day strongly at 338 for sixwickets.
Patel, who scored a century in the tourists' firstwarm-up game against India A, and stand-in skipper StuartBroad (6) were the unbeaten batsmen at stumps.
In the morning, the visitors were rocked by a two-wicketburst from Kshemal Waingankar and a wicket each from firstchange seamer Javed Khan and captain Suryakumar Yadav, a parttime spinner, after opting to bat first.
Morgan and Bairstow then rallied the visiting team bybatting with confidence and fluency till the former wasdismissed by Shardul Thakur.
In the first hour of play, Waingankar picked up thewickets of opener Nick Compton (1) and Ian Bell (4) but waspunished later on with the old ball to finish the day withfigures of two for 68.
Javed Khan and part-timer bowler Surya Kumar Yadav, thehome team skipper, got rid off Jonathan Trott and Joe Rootrespectively.
The teams:
Mumbai A: Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Cheteshwar Pujara, Shikhar Dhawan, Hiken Shah, Bhavin Thakkar, Sufiyan Shaikh, Nikhil Patil (Jr.), Shoaib Shaikh , Kshemal Waingankar, Javed Khan and Shardul Thakur.
England: Stuart Broad (Capt.), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Nick Compton, Samit Patel, Jonathan Trott, Joe Root, Jimmy Bairstow, Graham Onions, Eoin Morgan and Monty Panesar.