However, there were two beneficiaries – Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Andrew Strauss, who exploited the favourable conditions to get some runs under their belt – in the drawn encounter.
The England opener was severely short of runs this season and ahead of the first Test against India, beginning in Lord's next week, the innings would give him a world of confidence. Strauss looked in complete command and played with the freedom that the Middlesex batsman is known for.
His fluent half-century and Owais Shah's patient fifty helped the England Lions declare their second innings closed at 227 for two for an overall lead of 257 runs. India's first innings came to a close in the first hour of the morning session at 383, after resuming from overnight 336 for seven, to concede a slender lead of 30 runs. In the second innings they made 91 for one in 20 overs as the match ended in a tame draw. Dinesh Kaarthick made a quick fifty.
Back to Strauss' innings, the left-hander was cautious to begin with, an understandable move after his recent poor run with the bat, and as the innings progressed he settled into a fine rhythm and played some elegant shots to drive the Indian bowlers to despair.
Zaheer Khan, for the second time in the match, proved expensive in his first spell as Strauss lay into him with an array of straight drives and punches through the covers. Strauss and Joe Denly added 60 runs for the opening wicket in a little over 10 overs, but the dismissal of Denly – he slashed Zaheer to Wasim Jaffer at covers – ended the partnership. It also slowed down the scoring rate of the Lions' innings.
Strauss, however, received a solid partner in Shah. The right-hander played the role of a support cast with perfection.
The duo batted – though the aggression of the earlier part was conspicuous by its absence – with a lot of assurance as the Lions moved forward smoothly and the lacklustre Indian bowling too helped their cause. Their alliance, worth 80 runs, was snapped when Strauss, appeared all set for a hundred, played a sweep shot against off-spinner Ramesh Powar, but the ball took an under edge and disturbed the woodwork. 
The morning session belonged to Dhoni as he came into his own with some customary blistering shots.
 Attacking mode
With wickets falling at regular intervals at the other end, Dhoni adopted an attacking mode and with good results as well as he notched up a good half-century that should boost his morale. However, his skills behind the wicket seem to have gone down a notch below as Dhoni at many times struggled to collect the ball neatly besides, dropping some catches in this match. Perhaps, the blow he had suffered on the finger during the match against Sussex too might have played a part in it.
Stuart Broad too made the day memorable one as he captured five wickets to celebrate his entry into the England Test squad. The tall all-rounder extracted sharp pace and a good amount of bounce that was too much to handle for lower order batsmen.