ENGLAND Lions hammered India A by 253 runs at Worcester to give Rory Burns a win as captain on his debut for the team.

The tourists, chasing an unlikely 421 at Blackfinch New Road, were restricted to 167-9 with last man Ankit Rajpoot absent hurt.

It was a performance to please Mark Ramprakash who has taken over as Lions head coach this summer.

Against a team packed with talent and international experience and in conditions favourable to them, selectors Ed Smith and James Taylor included six players with Test caps in the Lions XI.

Ex-England captain Alastair Cook led the way with his 180 in the first innings.

Nick Gubbins helped Cook set the tone with 73 on the first day and Dawid Malan eased back into red-ball mode with a half-century in each innings.

Ollie Pope marked his Lions debut with a sparky unbeaten 50 on day three.

Sam Curran became the youngest bowler to take five wickets in an innings for England in an A Test and ended with match figures of 7-60.

Warwickshire's Chris Woakes took a major step forward in his bid to prove his fitness for the Specsavers Test Series against India while Jamie Porter and Matthew Fisher also impressed.

Somerset spinners Dom Bess and Jack Leach were restricted to a combined total of 24 overs.

But both ended the match on a high with Bess claiming Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant for India’s top scores of 48 and 61 respectively.

Leach had Jayant Yadav, a surprise Test centurion against England in India two winters ago, miscuing to mid-off.

Porter also struck twice.

“Played one, won one,” joked Burns, reflecting on his ideal start.

“It was a very pleasing performance. They were a good side and we had a pretty comprehensive victory.

“It was set up on day one by Alastair, backed up by Gubbo and Dawid, and the rest of the four days all the bowlers stuck in.

"Sammy took the plaudits on the first innings but they all worked as a group.

“It was a bit bizarre captaining a team with all this experience.”