Home
India A have put themselves in commanding position in the third and final unofficial four-day Test with a 96-run lead at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. Former Punjab Kings (PBKS) bowler Saurabh Kumar starred with four-wicket haul to bundle out New Zealand for 237.
Day 2 got underway after New Zealand caused a collapse and got the home side India all out for 293 from a solid position of 256/5. New Zealand A lost a handful of wickets early as they quickly found themselves three down for 41 runs with Joe Carter (8), Rachin Ravindra (4), Robert ODonnell (5) having a short stay at the crease departing in single digits.
But shortly after the storm was weathered and the ship was steadied by Mark Chapman who made batting look simple with an innings of 92 which included a plethora of boundaries (8 fours, 2 sixes).
Chapman was not alone in stabilising the Kiwi innings as the second fiddle was played by Sean Solia backing his partner with a half-century (54) that included seven fours.
Taking nothing away from Dane Cleaver’s crucial knock of 34 runs before Solia took up the mantle and pressed on. The trio racked up runs that saw New Zealand amounting to 226/8 from 58/4 when they were floundering.
The Kiwi innings came to a head for 237 all out by the novice Indian bowlers with the red ball stopping NZ A in their tracks with a healthy lead of 56 runs as a head start.
The pick of the bowlers was the 29-year-old left-arm orthodox bowler Saurabh who was picked by PBKS at the base price of 20 lakh in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 auction. Saurabh claimed four wickets for 48 runs that included four maidens in the spell of 17.2 overs.
Ace leg break spinner Rahul Chahar bagged three wickets for 53 runs in the spell of 14 overs. Mukesh Kumar with his right arm medium pace sent two Kiwi batters packing resulting in getting two wickets for the 28-year-old. India’s bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur managed to take one wicket as well.
In the last session, India A were rearing to bat with a sizeable lead but NZ A struck early and the hosts lost Abhimanyu Easwaran for four runs.
Skipper Priyank Panchal and Ruturaj Gaikwad resumed the batting for India and saw any danger off of the new ball which still holds the potential of causing any further damage with only 11 overs bowled. Day 2 drew to a close with India A garnering a lead of 96 runs for 40/1.
