JAIPUR (India), Nov 27: Richard Johnson and Andrew Flintoff took three wickets apiece to give England’s raw bowling attack an early boost before Abijhit Kale hit 122 in an Indian ‘A’ team revival Tuesday.

Johnson sliced through the top order, taking three wickets in six deliveries as the A team crashed to eight for four, and Flintoff captured three middle order wickets.

However, Kale’s century lifted the home side to 233 for nine when they declared midway through the final session.

England were 37 for none — with Mark Butcher (32) and Marcus Trescothick (5) together — at the close on the opening day of the three-day match, the touring team’s last before the first Test against India starting next Monday.

Kale struck 10 fours in his 220-ball innings spanning four and half hours, and hoisted off-spinner Richard Dawson for six over mid-wicket to reach his hundred.

Johnson, bowling at a vigorous pace on a green pitch and gaining late movement from a good length, struck twice in the first over and again in his next as the home side lurched from two for no score to eight for four after visiting skipper Nasser Hussain chose to field first.

Kale, a consistent domestic player, launched the recovery by adding 114 for the fifth wicket with Gagan Khoda, who stroked 64 from 121 balls, including eight fours, as conditions gradually eased.

He then put on 99 with wicket-keeper Ajay Ratra (26) for the seventh wicket before Dawson dismissed him.

Kale initially struggled before playing shots to all parts of the ground. He was eventually out to a bat-pad catch by Mark Ramprakash at silly point as England’s bowlers prised out three wickets at the same score before the declaration.

Earlier, uncapped Somerset paceman Johnson enhanced his chances of making his debut in the first Test.

Johnson first had Vinayak Mane caught behind from the third delivery and then bowled Yere Goud between bat and pad two balls later.

His pace and movement made life difficult for batsmen accustomed to slow, turning tracks and struck again in his next over, trapping opener Gautam Gambir leg before for five.

Bowling a good length and moving the ball late, he had both Khoda and Kale struggling early on in a superb first spell which read 7-2-19-3.

Flintoff made it eight for four when he had Rashmi Parida caught by Foster, also without scoring.

Flintoff joined the team a few days ago as back-up for Craig White, who is struggling to bowl at full pace having recovered from recent injury.

All-rounder Flintoff looked in great shape as he bowled sharply in an afternoon spell which read 8-3-23-2.

He bowled Khoda with a beautiful in-swinger that kept a bit low and then had Reetinder Singh Sodhi, a regular member of India’s one-day squad, in all sorts of trouble before having him tamely edge behind the stumps.

INDIA ‘A’ (1st Innings):

V. Mane c Foster b Johnson 0

G. Gambhir lbw b Johnson 5

Y. Goud b Johnson 0

G. Khoda b Flintoff 64

R. Parida c Foster b Flintoff 0

A. Kale c Ramprakash b Dawson 122

R.S. Sodhi c Foster b Flintoff 2

A. Ratra c Foster b Giles 26

S.B. Joshi lbw b Dawson 0

D. Ganesh not out 0

EXTRAS (B-3, LB-2, NB-9) 14

TOTAL (for nine dec, 77 overs) 233

FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-0, 3-7, 4-8, 5-122, 6-134, 7-233, 8-233, 9-233.

DID NOT BAT: Iqbal Siddiqui.

BOWLING: Johnson 15-3-56-3 (4nb); Flintoff 17-4-47-3; White 14-3-32-0 (5nb); Butcher 1-0-3-0; Giles 17-4-48-1; Dawson 11-3-38-2; Trescothick 2-1-4-0.

ENGLAND (1st Innings):

M.A. Butcher not out 32

M.E. Trescothick not out 5

EXTRAS 0

TOTAL (for no wkt, 11 overs) 37

TO BAT: M.P. Vaughan, N. Hussain, M.R. Ramprakash, A. Flintoff, C. White, R.J.K. Dawson, J.S. Foster, A.F. Giles, R.L. Johnson.

BOWLING (to-date): Ganesh 5-2-19-0; Siddiqui 5-1-17-0; Joshi 1-0-1-0.—Reuters