Rajat Patidar is all guns blazing as his purple patch with the bat continues with a second century of the season as India A inched closer to win the series against New Zealand A in the third Test on Saturday (September 17). Meanwhile, Ruturaj Gaikwad also dazzled with the willow as he missed the cent by mere six runs.
Posting a colossal 416, Priyank Panchal-led side has opened up an opportunity to clinch the issue after the previous two unofficial Tests ended in a drab draws, mainly due to inclement weather. At the end of the third and penultimate day, New Zealand A were on 20/1.
After left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar was brought into the attack early, he dismissed Rachin Ravindra to set the ball rolling.
This was after an impressive second innings show by the India A batters, with only Abhimanyu Easwaran (8) failing to cross the 50-run mark, as the hosts declared their second innings at 359/7.
Patidar continued his love affair with the Chinnaswamy Stadium, smashing 109 off 135 balls, his third first-class hundred at the same venue in three months. Earlier, he had scored a hundred here in the Ranji Trophy final, followed by 176 on his India 'A' debut a fortnight ago.
For Gaikwad, it was a match to remember as he topped up his first innings 108 with a delectable 94, which had 11 boundaries in it.
It was off-spinner Joe Walker, who had him caught by Mark Chapman but by then, the CSK batter was involved in two century plus partnerships -- 122 with his skipper Priyank Panchal (62) for the second wicket and 102 with Patidar for the third wicket.
Patidar, who hit 13 fours and two sixes, then found an able ally in Sarfaraz Khan (63 off 74 balls) and they added 108 runs in just 20 overs, as India A looked for a 400 plus total before letting New Zealand A bat for the day's last 90 minutes.
Sarfaraz used his feet to good effect against Ravindra and Walker, hitting seven fours and two sixes in the process.
It was a fine knock, but his failure in the preceding matches could come back to haunt him, as the fifty came when the pressure was literally off.
