Chelmsford, July 27 : India played out a draw against Essex in the three-day warm-up game at the County ground here on Friday.

India batsmen gained good practice in the middle ahead of the high-octane five-match Test rubber against hosts England, starting August 1 in Birmingham.

In reply to India's first inning score of 395, Essex rode on Paul Walter's 75 and Michael-Kyle Pepper's 68 to pile 359/8.

For India, Umesh Yadav returned impressive figures of 4/35 while Ishant Sharma scalped three wickets conceding 59 runs.

Altering their batting order in the second innings, the visitors promoted KL Rahul to open the innings alongwith Shikhar Dhawan, who got a golden pair.

Rahul remained unbeaten on 36 runs while Ajinkya Rahane (19 not out), helped India reach 89/2 in their second innings when the captains decided to call off the encounter.

Brief Scores: India 395, 89/2 (KL Rahul 36 not out, Ajinkya Rahane 19 not out; Matthew Quinn 1/5) vs Essex 359/8 (Paul Walter 75, Michael-Kyle Pepper 68; Umesh Yadav 4/35)

 

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Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.

Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.

Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.

An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.

The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.

A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.

Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."

"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.

"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.

A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.