Thaindian News

Taunton, July 18 (IANS) Somerset coach Andy Hurry believes the county have given a psychological advantage to England against India in the upcoming Test series after “bullying” the visitors in the tour game.

Somerset piled up 425/3 and 260/2. England captain Andrew Struass batted himself to form with fluent scores of 78 and 109. Indian batsmen had a tough time and were bundled out for 224. The visitors were struggling at 138/8 before Suresh Raina struck a counter-attacking century Sunday to save India the blushes. In the second innings, India finshed at 69/0.

“It was important that we gave it our best shot and really put them under the pump,” Hurry was quoted as saying in Cricinfo.

“We won the toss on a great batting pitch, dominated the game and started to bully them, which is a great position for England to sit back in their seats and appreciate what we have done for them.”

“We had an opportunity to build pressure, then got our rewards and bowled them out,” he said.

“They were looking for the follow-on but we were not giving them that. It was an opportunity for us to go in again and reinforce our position before giving them a little dart at the end to try and bowl them out.”

India would look to be better prepared for the first Test starting at Lord’s Thursday.

“They are going to come up against a stern test against a side challenging to be No. 1 so they’ll have to lift their game. I’m sure they will, playing at the home of cricket, but it’s been interesting - their approach and how that reflects in the way they performed,” he said.

Hurry was all praise for Strauss. “It’s been a perfect three days for him.”

“We kept the Indians in the field for a number of overs. He looked really busy at the wicket and built his innings. He’s been outstanding to have in the changing room. The boys have thrived on having him around.”