Steven Finn ended home resistance with a hat-trick to put a previously unsuspected gloss on England's opening victory over a Hyderabad Cricket Association XI.
n truth, it was Ravi Bopara, with 73, and Chris Woakes who did most to get their team off to a winning start as England mustered 219 all out in this first warm-up match at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium.
Woakes followed his unbeaten 46 with two wickets in two balls to break the spirit of a home reply just as Arjun Yadav was jockeying a position to challenge.
England's top order failed to come to terms with a slow pitch, after Alastair Cook won the toss - leaving Bopara and Woakes to dig out a defendable total.
The tourists hardly made an auspicious start with the bat, and it was even more ominous for them when Finn's first ball of the Hyderabad innings was hooked for six straight on to a whitewashed wall at deep backward-square.
Akshat Reddy's fun did not last long, though - because he set off for a solo single in the next over and had no chance of retrieving his ground before Ian Bell's throw came in from cover.
Captain Ravi Teja was done for pace and lost his off stump in an encouraging new-ball spell from Finn to make it 12 for two, before the match's only half-century stand - between Yadav and Neeraj Bist. It ended when the latter poked a simple catch to cover off Samit Patel.
Both Ahmed Quadri, and then wicketkeeper Ibrahim Khaleel, chopped on to Woakes - but Yadav tucked into Graeme Swann with a straight six and another maximum over extra-cover.
He was run out, setting off for an unwise single and unable to get back ahead of the throw from the leg-side ring. But England still needed to keep the squeeze on effectively - until Finn made such short work of the last three men to finish with figures of four for 28.
For the record, Finn had Amol Shinde caught behind slogging and then bowled Kaneshuk Naidu and pinned Anwar Khan lbw to see the hosts off for 163 and secure an England win by 56 runs with more than three overs to spare.
n truth, it was Ravi Bopara, with 73, and Chris Woakes who did most to get their team off to a winning start as England mustered 219 all out in this first warm-up match at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium.
Woakes followed his unbeaten 46 with two wickets in two balls to break the spirit of a home reply just as Arjun Yadav was jockeying a position to challenge.
England's top order failed to come to terms with a slow pitch, after Alastair Cook won the toss - leaving Bopara and Woakes to dig out a defendable total.
The tourists hardly made an auspicious start with the bat, and it was even more ominous for them when Finn's first ball of the Hyderabad innings was hooked for six straight on to a whitewashed wall at deep backward-square.
Akshat Reddy's fun did not last long, though - because he set off for a solo single in the next over and had no chance of retrieving his ground before Ian Bell's throw came in from cover.
Captain Ravi Teja was done for pace and lost his off stump in an encouraging new-ball spell from Finn to make it 12 for two, before the match's only half-century stand - between Yadav and Neeraj Bist. It ended when the latter poked a simple catch to cover off Samit Patel.
Both Ahmed Quadri, and then wicketkeeper Ibrahim Khaleel, chopped on to Woakes - but Yadav tucked into Graeme Swann with a straight six and another maximum over extra-cover.
He was run out, setting off for an unwise single and unable to get back ahead of the throw from the leg-side ring. But England still needed to keep the squeeze on effectively - until Finn made such short work of the last three men to finish with figures of four for 28.
For the record, Finn had Amol Shinde caught behind slogging and then bowled Kaneshuk Naidu and pinned Anwar Khan lbw to see the hosts off for 163 and secure an England win by 56 runs with more than three overs to spare.
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