India tour of England, Practice Match, Indians vs Middlesex: 3 positives for India

Indians beat Middlesex by 95 runs ahead of their ODI series against England.

Updated: August 22, 2014 10:38 PM IST

By Aamir Salati

India tour of England, Practice Match, Indians vs Middlesex: 3 positives for India

After the horrendous Test series India now face England in ODIs and in a build-up played a tour match against county side Middlesex. India without the services of captain MS Dhoni after being put in to bat first were bowled out for 230 runs in 44.2 overs. Indian bowlers then successfully defended the target as Middlesex were bundled out for 135, thus winning the match by 95 runs.

It was a chance for India to set things in order and also check out new inclusions. As Indians beat Middlesex comprehensively we take a look at some positives for India.

Virat Kohli leads from the front: In absence of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli captained the side and scored much needed runs from his bat. Kohli came in early at the fall of Shikhar Dhawan in fourth over and kept his wicket intact from one end as India were reduced to 52-3 inside 14 overs. He stitched a valuable 104-run partnership with Ambati Rayudu for the fourth wicket before being dismissed for well-made 71.

Ambati Rayudu makes most of the opportunity: Middle order batsman Ambati Rayudu has made a strong of himself being included in the playing XI for 1st ODI after notching up a sturdy half-century. Rayudu joined hands with kohli and scored 72 before he was retired out, giving other batsmen a go.

Bowlers shine: India used eight bowlers and all of them except Ravindra Jadeja featured in wickets column. Defending a total of 231 Indian seamers did a superb job to scalp top five Middlesex batsmen inside 17 overs for just 67 runs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Dhawal Kulkarni picked a wicket each to put opposition on mat early on. Spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Karn Sharma then ran through the lower-order to hand India a comfortable win. The latter was highest wicket-taker with three to his name.

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