Opener Varun Chopra has crafted an opportunist’s century to anchor the England Lions’ 6-259, batting first in the one-day match against Australia A at Bellerive.

Chopra made 105 from 137 balls after a costly miss from Australia A keeper Tim Paine, who dropped a regulation nick in the first over before the Essex batsman had scored.

Chopra notched his second hundred of the Lions’ underwhelming tour so far following 115 against a Victorian XI on Monday.

The 25-year-old brought up a measured half-century off 86 balls but hit the accelerator to make his second 50 off just 48.

His knock included nine fours as he put on 52 with opener James Vince (24 from 44) and 75 with skipper James Taylor (28 from 53), the Lions’ start far from blistering with their first 100 taking 172 balls.

The fireworks came from young gun Ben Foakes, who blasted 56 from just 42 balls to help lift the tourists’ run rate to 5.18 an over.

The Lions were 2-224 when Chopra was caught at long-on by Ben Cutting and lost 4-35 as they looked to ramp up their run rate.

John Hastings bagged 3-55 from 10 overs for Australia A with Cutting, who found himself on a hat-trick late in the innings, taking 2-53.

The match is the first of a five-game series, the first three in Hobart before two at the SCG.