In their second warm up game ahead of the five-match ODI series between India and England, the visiting England XI side was beaten by six wickets by Delhi at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium. Chasing 295, Delhi skipper Shikhar Dhwan set up the victory with a century, while Milind Kumar and Rajat Bhatia took the team across the line with an unbroken 103-run partnership.
Opening the innings for Delhi, Dhawan and Unmukt Chand stitched together a 98-run opening stand, before Chand returned to the dressing room for 37. James Tredwell who sent back the young Delhi opener also castled Jagrit Anand to give the visitors a couple of quick breakthroughs. And 66 runs later, Bell trapped Dhawan lbw, while Jade Dernbach followed up with the wicket of Vaibhav Rawal. But, Milind Kumar and senior bat Bhatia ensured a victory for Delhi without losing any more wickets.
Earlier, upon opting to bat first, England XI captain Alastair Cook and Ian Bell got the visitors off to a good start with a 70-run opening stand, before the former was sent back by Sumit Narwal. With the skipper back in the dressing room six runs short of his half-century, Bell anchored the innings with a108-run knock. While Varun Sood removed Joe Root and Samit Patel in quick succession, Bell built a 113-run stand with Eoin Morgan to take the innings forward. However, Sood struck again to send back Bell and break the partnership. Craig Kieswetter then joined Morgan in the middle and remained unbeaten on 41 as England XI posted 294 for the loss of five wickets.
Brief scores: England XI 294/5 in 50 overs (I Bell 108, E Morgan 52, V Sood 3/45) lost to Delhi 295/4 in 48.3 overs (S Dhawan 110, M Kumar 78*, R Bhatia 45*) by 6 wickets
