Northampton, Aug 6: Abhinav Mukund scored a fine century in India’s practice outing against Northampton to guide India to a score of 327 at the end of day’s play on Day 1. Mukund hit 113 before retiring hurt on a day that saw Virender Sehwag return to the Indian side.

Sehwag got the opportunity to bat right at the beginning of the day as India won the toss and elected to make first use of the wicket. However, the dashing opener’s return to competitive cricket was less than average as he was trapped lbw by Dave Burton for just 8. Opening partner, Gautam Gambhir, too, didn’t fare much better, the southpaw falling to David Willey in similar fashion after having scored 18.

That set the stage for Mukund’s innings. The Tamil Nadu opening batsman, who has had a disappointing series thus far, put India in a position of strength by sharing a 132-run stand with VVS Laxman (49) for the third wicket. India were reduced to 181 for three when Laxman fell to Lee Daggett one short of his half-century.

India lost two quick wickets in the post-tea session to fritter away the advantage given by Mukund’s and Laxman’s partnership. First captain MS Dhoni, in desperate need of runs, prodded at a delivery from Luke Evans only to edge the ball to wicketkeeper David Murphy. Nine deliveries later, Suresh Raina (33 off 43 balls) was dismissed in exactly the same way by Evans. At the fall of Raina’s wicket, India were 237 for the loss of five top-order batsmen.

Wriddhiman Saha scored 15 off 31 deliveries before he was run-out. But it was Amit Mishra’s battling 48 not out (off 101 deliveries) that helped India hold out against the Nothampton attack and finish the day at 327 for the loss of seven wickets.

With Sehwag having made a return, albeit a disappointing one, to the Indian side, the focus on Day 2 will be on Zaheer Khan’s bowling. The left-arm pacer, who was injured during the Lord’s Test, came out to bat yesterday and scored 12 runs in an innings that lasted 13 deliveries.

Brief scores: India1st innings 327 for 7 (Abhinav Mukund 113 retired hurt, VVS Laxman 49, Amit Mishra 48*, Luke Evans 2/60)