England beat MCA XI in World T20 warm-up game

Mumbai, 14 March।  Mumbai's talented batsman Jay Bista scored an impressive 37-ball 51, but his side Mumbai Cricket Association XI (MCA XI) went down by 14 runs against England in a World Twenty20 warm-up match at the Brabourne Stadium here on Monday.

Batting first, England posted 177/8 in 20 overs, thanks to Joe Root's 48.

In reply, despite 20-year-old Bista smashing five fours and two sixes in his half-century knock, MCA XI fell short of the target thus scoring 163/6 in 20 overs.

Chasing a target of challenging target of 178, the local side’s openers Bista and skipper Shreyas Iyer (16) got the team off to a flying start scoring 45 runs in the first five overs.

But in the final ball of sixth over, pacer Liam Plunkett brought the first breakthrough as he got the better off Iyer to leave Mumbai at 57/1 in the first powerplay.

Incoming English batsman James Vince (45) who decided to play for MCA XI in the match, gave good support to Bista to take the team past the 90-run mark. 

But the young Mumbai batsman had to head back to the pavilion after being caught by Reece Topley off the bowling of Moeen Ali.

Another England batsmen Jos Buttler (25) along with Vince held on, but both their innings were cut short by pacer Chris Jordan. 

From there on, Akhil Herwadkar (7) and England spinner Adil Rashid (5) fell cheaply. Nikhil Patel (4 not out) and England pacer David Willey (0 not out) failed to take team past the victory line.

Topley and Jordan claimed two wickets each for England.

Earlier on, opting to bat, openers Alex Hales (37) and Jason Roy (32) gave England a good start. 

But with the dismissal of the opening duo Root took the initiative to build an innings from there. The right-handed batsman was well supported in the other end by Eoin Morgan (11) and Ben Stokes (30).

Willey, Rashid and Mumbai young pacer Shardul Thakur impressed with the ball.

Brief scores: England 177/8 in 20 overs (Alex Hales 37 and Jason Roy 32; David Willey 3/37, Adil Rashid 2/33, Shardul Thakur 2/34) vs Mumbai Cricket Association XI 163/6 in 20 overs (Jay Bista 51; Reece Topley 2/26, Chris Jordan 2/34)