Opener Tom Haines smashed an unbeaten century to lead England Lions' strong reply after Karun Nair's double century had powered India A to a massive 557 on Day 2 of the first Unofficial Test, in Canterbury, on Saturday.
Left-hander Haines impressed with his strokeplay as he stroked 103 not out from 147 balls, while Max Holden hit a quickfire 64 from 51 balls to guide England Lions to 237/2 in 52 overs. They trail the visitors by 320 runs.
The duo piled on the runs in the third session as they put on an unbroken stand of 106 runs from 118 balls for the third wicket to send the Indian bowlers on a leather hunt.
Haines had earlier added a solid 109-run stand for the second wicket with Emiliano Gay in the second session.
For India A, pacer Anshul Kamboj had provided the early breakthrough with the wicket of opener Ben McKinney (16) in the second session.
Kamboj was quite impressive with the new ball in a lively first spell, marked by accuracy and good amount of swing. Spinner Harsh Dubey then accounted for Emilio Gay, who was caught by Sarfaraz Khan for 46 in the 33rd over.
Earlier, Karun stroked a brilliant 204 from 281 balls before he was caught behind after getting a thin inside edge off pacer Zaman Akhter in the 106th over.
Resuming on 409/3, India A stumbled in the morning session, losing three wickets for 52 runs as England Lions fought back after a below-par showing on the opening day.
The 33-year-old brought up his double hundred from 272 balls, having hit 25 fours and a six, as he pulled Edward Jack for a boundary to boost his chances of making it to India's playing XI for the first Test against England next month.
Dhruv Jurel missed out on a century as he was dismissed by Ajeet Dale for 94 in the fifth over of the day after he had added 195 for the fourth wicket with Karun.
All-rounder Nitish Reddy failed to seize the opportunity as he was caught behind off pacer Eddie Jack for seven followed by Karun's wicket. All-rounder Shardul Thakur batted positively to hit 27 from 32 balls with four boundaries before he became Akhter's second victim of the innings.
Once Karun was dismissed, the Lions pacers went through the rest of the India A line-up with regular blows.
Brief scores: India A: 557 all out in 125.1 overs (Karun Nair 204, Dhruv Jurel 94, Sarfaraz Khan 92; Josh Hull 3/72, Zaman Akhter 3/73) vs England Lions 75/1 in 18 overs (Emilio Gay 28 not out, Tom Haines 25 not out).
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