ENG LIONS vs IND-A | Karun Nair makes memorable return to national setup with century in first unofficial Test

‌Karun Nair made a memorable comeback to the national setup with an impressive century for India A against England Lions in the first unofficial Test in Canterbury on Friday. The Vidarbha batter got to his 24th first-class century in the 60th over on day one after England Lions skipper James Rew opted to bowl first at St Lawrence Ground.

Karun came to the middle after India A skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran was trapped in front of the wicket by left-arm pacer Josh Hull in the sixth over. He started off with a boundary in his fifth ball but it was Yashasvi Jaiswal who was more aggressive in the partnership with two fours and a six.

But the left-handed opener nicked one to wicketkeeper Rew off medium pacer Eddie Jack in the 17th over with the score reading 51. The former Karnataka batter adopted caution with new batter Sarfaraz Khan getting off the blocks quickly and the pair successfully negotiated the Lions’ attack without losing another wicket in the morning session.

The 33-year-old Karun, who was on 26 off 60 at lunch, opened up in the post-lunch session hitting five boundaries to reach his half-century in 85 balls in the 37th over. Soon, the 100-run partnership between the two also came up and Sarfaraz also reached fifty in 84 balls. Karun looked solid as Sarfaraz upped the scoring from the other end with a flurry of boundaries after his half-century.

Just as the pair were looking good to complete their respective centuries and their 200-run partnership, Sarfaraz was caught behind when he was on 92, breaking the 181-run partnership, to be Hull’s second wicket. However, that did not affect Karun’s rhythm as he went on to reach the three-figure mark off 155 balls with the score reading 241.

He continued to find the boundaries frequently and, along with Dhruv Jurel, took India past the 300-run mark moving from 100 to 150 in just 50 balls. With that knock, Karun, who is part of the 18-member Indian team for the England series, started his comeback trail on a positive note. The batter, who got a triple hundred against the same opponent in his debut series, last played for India in a Test match against Australia in March 2017.