Sanju Samson-led India A take an unassailable lead in the three-One-Day series with a comprehensive four-wicket win at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. Kuldeep Yadav starred with a hat-trick to mop up the Kiwi tail whereas Prithvi Shaw put the pressure from the start with an explosive knock to make the run chase easy for the hosts.
New Zealand A skipper Robert ODonnell won the toss and chose to bat first. Rachin Ravindra batted well whereas Umran Malik's pace got the better of opener Chad Bowes (15). After the powerplay overs, Rahul Chahar dismissed wicketkeeper-batter Dane Cleaver who was struggling to rotate the strike.
Ravindra and Joe Carter helped their side lay a platform but Rishi Dhawan was introduced into the attack and got two big wickets. Ravindra got dismissed for a score of 61 off 65 deliveries. The southpaw's knock included nine boundaries. Skipper ODonnell got out for a two-ball duck in the same over.
Tom Bruce tried to stitch a partnership with Carter but former Under-19 World Cup-winning all-rounder Raj Bawa got his wicket. In the 31st over, New Zealand A were 133/5. Once again, Dhawan turned out to be the partnership-breaker. He got the wicket of set batter Carter. He scored 72 runs from 80 deliveries including one four and three sixes.
Samson's move to introduce Kuldeep into the attack in slog overs worked wonders. The chinaman bowler first got the wicket of Sean Solia in the 45th over. In his last over, he got his career's third hat-trick to end New Zealand A's innings in the 47th over for a score of 219.
The run chase got off to a flier with Shaw hitting Kiwi bowlers all over the park. Ruturaj Gaikwad played second fiddle to him in the opening partnership. Gaikwad scored 30 runs off 34 deliveries before getting dismissed by Logan van Beek.
Rajat Patidar got off to a decent start as well but lost his wicket to Jacob Duffy. Patidar scored 20 runs off 17 deliveries. Meanwhile, Shaw got to his half-century. Shaw was moving towards three figures but lost his wicket to off-spinner Walker. He scored 77 runs from 48 deliveries including as many as 11 fours and three sixes. He batted with an impressive strike rate of 160.42.
In a space of nine deliveries, India A lost three wickets giving the visitors a glimmer of hope. Tilak Varma got out for a golden duck to Duffy. In the 18th over, India A were 134/4. Skipper Samson and Dhawan tried to slow things down in the middle. They shared a 46-run partnership for the fifth wicket. New Zealand A found another way back into the game when Van Beek got the wicket of Samson (37) in the 26th over. He followed it up with the wicket of Bawa as well. All of a sudden, India A were 180/6.
However, Dhawan and Shardul Thakur kept their calm and guided India A to victory in the 34th over. Dhawan remained unbeaten for 43-ball 22 whereas Thakur scored 25 runs from 24 deliveries in the unbeaten 42-run partnership.
The last unofficial ODI of the series will be played at the same venue as well on September 27. So far, New Zealand A have not managed to post a big total on the board.
