Steven Finn hat-trick helps England beat Hyderabad XI
- Published
Tour match, Hyderabad (Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium): |
England 219 (47.2 overs) beat Hyderabad Cricket Association XI 163 (36.5 overs) |
Finn is looking to force his way into England's ODI side on a regular basis
Steven Finn took a hat-trick as England began their tour of India with a somewhat flattering 56-run victory over a Hyderabad Cricket Association XI.
Finn's first ball went for six but his last sealed his treble as the home side collapsed to 163 all out.
But England also struggled with the bat, recovering from 47-4 and 124-6 as Ravi Bopara's 73 helped them to a competitive total.
England face India in the first of five one-day internationals on Friday.
Before that England have one more warm-up match, against the same opposition, and they will go into it with a number of batsmen keen for time in the middle.
On a slow surface, captain Alastair Cook edged behind off Anwar Ahmed for six before Kevin Pietersen, back in the side having been rested as England beat India 3-0 in the ODI series on home soil, external, speared a drive straight to mid-on.
When Jonathan Trott was bowled by a Naidu delivery that kept low and Ian Bell fell to Ashish Reddy's first ball England were 47-4 in the 14th over and struggling.
Bopara, though, led the counter attack with a six off Amol Shinde and he received fleeting support from Jonny Bairstow (15) and Samit Patel (20).
But when the Essex player was seventh man out, England still had only 169 on the board and but for Chris Woakes' unbeaten 46 would have been set for a total short of 200.
Woakes, who came in at number eight, said: "It's nice to bat higher up the order if you can, but anywhere I can slot into this team will be good. My batting is something I've worked on really hard."
Bopara reveals changed mental approach
Even 219 looked like it would be far from satisfactory when Akshat Reddy hooked Finn's first ball over the rope but he only added one more to his score before being run out as Hyderabad lost wickets at regular intervals.
Arjun Yadav held the innings together with a patient 47 but when Woakes clean bowled two batsmen with successive balls the home side were 99-5.
And although they staged a rally of sorts, Finn returned to mop up the tail in stunning fashion.
The 22-year-old had Shinde caught behind by Bairstow before bowling Kaneshuk Naidu and seeing Ahmed trapped in front of the stumps.
Finn, external tweeted: "To get a hat-trick was awesome, first time I've ever done it."