Fueled by a four-wicket haul from Nishant Sindhu and a commanding half-century from Ruturaj Gaikwad India A crushed South Africa A by nine wickets in the second unofficial one-day at the Niranjan Shah Stadium, Rajkot. With this India pocketed the series 2-0 with a match to spare. The chase was executed with ease by Gaikwad and Tilak Varma, who guided the team across the finish line in a lowly chase of 133.
Nishant Sindhu, Harshit Rana breaks South Africa A's back
Batting first South Africa A were bowled out for a paltry 132. The deadly duo of Nishant Sindhu and Harshit Rana did the bulk of damage to South Africa batters. While Nishant Sindhu's clocked a stunning figure of 4/17, Harshit Rana stood tall with a robust 3/21. Prasidh Krishna too chipped in with a two-fer while Tilak Varma also grabbed a wicket in India's winning cause. Notably, India's speedster Arshdeep Singh finished the innings wicketless. For the visitors, wicketkeeper-batter Rivaldo Moonsamy was the top scorer with 33 runs.
For South Africa A, contributions from the bat came from Lhuan-dre Pretorius (21), Dian Forrester (22), and Delano Potgieter (23), which helped propel the Proteas to their total of 132. Compounding their difficulties, six Proteas batters failed to reach double-digit scores. Chasing 133, India A lost their first wicket at 53 in the ninth over when star batter Abhishek Sharma was dismissed for a quick-fire 32 off 22 balls, an innings that included six boundaries.
Ruturaj Gaikwad shines with a brilliant fifty
Ruturaj Gaikwad, who had scored a century in the first match, followed up with an unbeaten half-century in this fixture. Tilak Varma supported him well, taking his time at the crease to contribute a vital 29 off 62 balls. India A delivered an impressive batting performance, reaching their target of 133 runs in just 27.5 overs for the loss of a single wicket. Gaikwad’s unbeaten 68 ultimately powered India to the series-clinching victory and earned him the Player of the Match award for his brilliant fifty. India A is scheduled to clash with South Africa A next on November 19 in the third and final ODI, which will also be held at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot.