Binny subjects England A to battering

England A 116 Karnataka XI 120-2 Karnataka XI win by 8 wkts

England A began their tour of India with a crushing eight-wicket defeat at the hands of the Karnataka State Cricket Association in Bangalore today.

The tourists were bowled out for 116 in 35.1 overs of their one-day warm-up match.

Only Warwickshire all-rounder Graham Wagg provided notable resistance, coming in at number eight and hitting three fours and three sixes in an innings of 45 before he was last out.

Kent's Test hopeful Ed Smith made 21, and Nottinghamshire all-rounder Kevin Pietersen 17 as only five England batsmen reached double figures.

England, captained by Sussex wicketkeeper-batsman Matthew Prior, stood little chance of defending a small total without fast bowler Simon Jones, who was missing with a sore knee.

The tourists dismissed both Karnataka openers with only 36 on the board, Lancashire's improving pace bowler Sajid Mahmood taking both wickets.

But an unbroken stand of 84 for the third wicket between Mithun Beerala (47no) and Vijay Bharadwaj (34no) saw the hosts to a comprehensive win with more than half their overs to spare.

Young Worcestershire off-spinner Shaftab Khalid suffered most, conceding 41 runs in just 5.3 overs.