Around skipper Rishabh Pant’s glittering 90, India A’s lower order showed commendable resolve to seal a fighting three-wicket win over South Africa A in the first four-day match here on Sunday. With this victory, India A took a 1-0 lead in the two-match series, with the second encounter scheduled to begin at the BCCI CoE grounds next Thursday.

India A, requiring 166 more runs to win a total of 275, resumed the day at 119 for four. Pant (90 off 113 balls, 11 fours, 4 sixes) and Ayush Badoni (34 off 47 balls) didn’t hold back at the start of the day as they scored 63 runs in just 12 overs to completely change the game.

Rishabh Pant leads charge with fluent 90

Right from the start, Pant was quick to make a big impact as he covered pacer Okuhle Cele with a huge six off the second ball of the day, followed by two neat singles through third man. Cele’s first over was very expensive as it went for 14 runs, which gave India A the early momentum.

Nevertheless, South Africa A also made some changes in their bowling strategy by going for a shorter length. The change worked as when Tiaan van Vuuren forced Pant to a mistimed pull, which was taken by Lesego Senokwane at second slip. The departure ended a magnificent innings from Pant who demonstrated his excellent batting and fitness – a very positive sign for the selectors ahead of the Test series against South Africa.

Suthar and Anshul Kamboj’s grit seals the chase

India A was able to find two unlikely heroes in Manav Suthar (20*) and Anshul Kamboj (37*), who combined for a match-winning partnership after the team was in need of 59 runs with only three wickets remaining.

Kamboj reacted to the hit on the helmet by Van Vuuren in an extraordinary manner. He wasn’t fazed at all and responded by hitting a six and a four off consecutive balls from the same bowler. Suthar also received an impact on his shoulder but he remained very determined to continue his innings.

They might have had several close calls and edges that barely missed the fielders but the two batsmen didn’t let go of their wicket. The winning run came when Suthar hit Prenelan Subrayen straight over midwicket for a boundary thus, India A secured a well-deserved victory.

(By PTI Inputs)