Rocky Flintoff hits maiden ton for England Lions

BRISBANE: Former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff’s son Rocky Flintoff struck his first century for England Lions, a team coached by his father, against a Cricket Australia XI in Brisbane on Thursday.

Rocky Flintoff, 16, hit six sixes as he scored 108 runs off 127 balls, guiding a struggling England Lions to a total of 319, ensuring a first-innings lead of 105 runs on day two.

Flintoff picked his son for England Lions last month, with Rocky getting a late call-up to a tour of South Africa after becoming the youngest player to score a century for England Under-19s in July.

The right-handed batter had scored four runs on his England Lions debut against a Cricket South Africa Invitation XI, followed by 23 runs in two innings in the first four-day match of the Australia tour earlier this month.

England Lions are also scheduled to play a first-class Test against Australia A from next Wednesday in Sydney.

Earlier, England skipper Jos Buttler played a lone hand with his 68 as India bowled out the tourists for 132 in the first of five T20 internationals at Eden Gardens on Wednesday.

Left-arm fast bowler Arshdeep Singh removed both openers early and spinner Varun Chakravarthy claimed three wickets after India elected to field first in Kolkata.

The T20 series, followed by three ODIs, between the two teams serve as a warm-up for the 50-over Champions Trophy next month.

Phil Salt fell for a duck on the third ball of the match, with a leading edge off his bat sending the ball high and into the gloves of wicketkeeper Sanju Samson.

Arshdeep dismissed Ben Duckett for four in the third over, with Rinku Singh taking a stunning backward running catch from the covers.

Buttler hit back with four boundaries off Hardik Pandya as he attempted to rebuild in a 48-run third-wicket partnership with his new deputy Harry Brook, who scored 17.

Chakravarthy bowled Brook with a googly and sent back Liam Livingstone for a duck as the ball darted into the stumps once again.

Buttler reached his fifty in 34 balls but wickets kept tumbling and in an attempt to push the scoring the skipper finally fell to Chakravarthy the ball after hitting the bowler for six.

India surprisingly left out Mohammed Shami after the fast bowler returned to the squad following a heel injury that kept him away from competitive cricket for over a year.