India-Essex practice game ends in a draw

Chelmsford : India played out a draw against Essex in the three-day warm-up game at the County ground here on Friday.

India batsmen gained good practice in the middle ahead of the high-octane five-match Test rubber against hosts England, starting August 1 in Birmingham.

In reply to India's first inning score of 395, Essex rode on Paul Walter's 75 and Michael-Kyle Pepper's 68 to pile 359/8.

For India, Umesh Yadav returned impressive figures of 4/35 while Ishant Sharma scalped three wickets conceding 59 runs.

Altering their batting order in the second innings, the visitors promoted KL Rahul to open the innings alongwith Shikhar Dhawan, who got a golden pair.

Rahul remained unbeaten on 36 runs while Ajinkya Rahane (19 not out), helped India reach 89/2 in their second innings when the captains decided to call off the encounter.

Brief Scores: India 395, 89/2 (KL Rahul 36 not out, Ajinkya Rahane 19 not out; Matthew Quinn 1/5) vs Essex 359/8 (Paul Walter 75, Michael-Kyle Pepper 68; Umesh Yadav 4/35)