IND-A vs NZ-A HIGHLIGHTS: Saurabh Kumar stars with five wickets to help India A beat New Zealand A by 113 runs to clinch unofficial Test series

IND-A vs NZ-A Highlights – India wins third unofficial Test and series:  India-A had set 416-run target for New Zealand A in the third unofficial Test at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Saurabh Kumar scalped five wickets to help the home team win the contest by 113 runs. With this they have also won the series 1-0 after the first two games ended in a draw. As for New Zealand A, Joe Carter scored a century on the final day of the match. Follow India-A vs NewZealand-A LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN.

Batsmen		R	B	4S	6S	SR
Rachin Ravindra	lbw b Saurabh Kumar	12	42	1	0	28.57
Joe Carter	b Mukesh Kumar	111	230	12	1	48.26
Joe Walker	b Shardul Thakur	7	19	1	0	36.84
Dane Cleaver	lbw b Saurabh Kumar	44	60	9	0	73.33
Mark Chapman	c Mukesh Kumar b SN Khan	45	61	5	1	73.77
Robert O’Donnell	lbw b SN Khan	19	27	2	0	70.37
Tom Bruce (C)	lbw b SN Khan	19	24	3	0	79.17
Sean Solia	lbw b Saurabh Kumar	8	16	0	0	50.00
Cam Fletcher (WK)	c SN Khan b Umran Malik	13	20	1	0	65.00
Jacob Duffy	lbw b Saurabh Kumar	4	21	1	0	19.05
Matthew Fisher	Not out	0	6	0	0	0.00
Extra	20 (b 0, w 1, nb 14, lb 5)
Total	302/10 (85.2)

BOWLING	O	M	R	W	ECON
Shardul Thakur	18	5	44	1	2.40
Mukesh Kumar	15	3	39	1	2.60
Saurabh Kumar	27.2	3	103	5	3.80
Rahul Chahar	1	0	1	0	1.00
Umran Malik	15	1	62	1	4.10
Sarfaraz Khan	9	0	48	2	5.30

When proceedings began on Day 4, both India A and New Zealand A were in the hunt for a win. The home team had a greater chance to win than the visitors. India A needed nine wickets to secure victory while the Black Caps had around almost 400 runs to score on the final day.

But then, one needs to give credit to the New Zealanders, who gave a jolly good fight in the contest. The batter managed to score an impressive ton. Even by his century standards, the target was always going to be daunting.

With a bowler like Saurabh, it was never going to be easy. The spinner, who is earning a good name for himself at the top level as well, did not harm to his growing reputation. He scalped five wickets in the innings from 27.3 overs. In fact, the spinner had delivered in the first innings too. He had taken four wickets, which makes it nine in the entire match.

It was his arm balls, which the New Zealand batters failed to pick up, leading to their downfall.  All his dismissals in the second innings were leg before wicket. It also made one thing clear that the bowler has a good control of his line and length as well.

Had it not been for Carter, they would have folded even more quickly. But his century meant that New Zealand A were able to put a decent 300-odd runs under their belt.

Day 3 Recap

Priyank Panchal’s team has opened up an opportunity as New Zealand A ended the third and penultimate day on 20 for one, chasing a mammoth 416. 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 for seven.

IND vs AUS LIVE: Replacement Umesh Yadav reaches Mohali, Mohammed Shami OUT of…

IND-A vs NZ-A LIVE Score: Joe Carter eyes ton, New Zealand A need 195 to win, India A in search of 5 wickets: Follow 3rd TEST LIVE Updates

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.

IND-A vs NZ-A Day 3 Highlights: NewZealand-A need 396 runs to win on FINAL day as India-A declare at 359/7: Follow 3rd TEST LIVE Updates

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.

What happened on DAY 2 

Saurabh Kumar and Rahul Chahar scalped four and three wickets respectively to dismiss NZ A for 237/10 in their first innings.

IND-A vs NZ-A Day 3 Highlights: NewZealand-A need 396 runs to win on FINAL day as India-A declare at 359/7: Follow 3rd TEST LIVE Updates

India A second innings 

Batsmen		R	B	4S	6S	SR
Priyank Panchal (C)	c & b Joe Carter	62	114	6	0	54.39
Abhimanyu Easwaran	lbw b SM Solia	4	9	1	0	44.44
Ruturaj Gaikwad	c MS Chapman b Joe Walker	94	164	11	0	57.32
Rajat Patidar	Not out	109	135	13	2	80.74
Sarfaraz Khan	c RR O’Donnell b Rachin Ravindra	63	74	7	2	85.14
Upendra Yadav (WK)	b Rachin Ravindra	1	2	0	0	50.00
Shardul Thakur	st D Cleaver b Rachin Ravindra	0	2	0	0	0.00
Rahul Chahar	lbw b TC Bruce	10	11	0	1	90.91
Extra	16 (b 12, w 1, nb 1, lb 2)
Total	359/7 (85)
Yet To Bat	Mukesh Kumar, Saurabh Kumar, Umran Malik, Prasidh Krishna

BOWLING	O	M	R	W	ECON
Jacob Duffy	19	6	53	0	2.80
Sean Solia	12	1	43	1	3.60
Matthew Fisher	12	0	53	0	4.40
Joe Walker	13	1	64	2	4.90
Rachin Ravindra	18	2	65	3	3.60
Mark Chapman	1	0	9	0	9.00
Tom Bruce	8	0	40	1	5.00
Robert O’Donnell	2	0	18	0	9.00

IND-A vs NZ-A Day 3 Highlights: NewZealand-A need 396 runs to win on FINAL day as India-A declare at 359/7: Follow 3rd TEST LIVE Updates

It was one of those games, where both teams gave it their all to edge ahead. At present, India A with a lead of 96 runs are slightly ahead.

The first two days has witnessed 20 wickets going down. It just goes to show that there is something for the bowlers to work around their magic. The third day, as a result, will be crucial in the context of the series, which has witnessed two draws so far. The ongoing match is the series decider as well.

IND-A vs NZ-A Highlights: India A lead by 96 runs after Saurabh Kumar, Rahul Chahar shines with bat against New Zealand in unofficial third Test

As for India A, their bowlers had a good day on the field. In fact, New Zealand A had half of their players in the dressing room at 99/5. They needed someone to play a good innings. It is at that juncture, Mark Chapman played a counter-attacking innings to pile pressure on the India A bowlers.

The ploy worked as the New Zealand A batter compiled 92 runs, which included eight fours and two sixes. Sean Solia also played his part with a half-century.  But, they were eventually dismissed for 237 runs in the 72^nd over.

India A in reply lost AR Easwaran early for four runs. They were eventually 40/1 at stumps on Day 2 with Priyank Panchal and Ruturaj Gaikwad in the middle. 

IND-A vs NZ-A Day 3 Highlights: NewZealand-A need 396 runs to win on FINAL day as India-A declare at 359/7: Follow 3rd TEST LIVE Updates

NewZealand-A 1ST Innings Scorecard – 237/10

Batsmen		R	B	4S	6S	SR
Joe Carter	lbw b Shardul Thakur	8	19	2	0	42.11
Rachin Ravindra	c UD Yadav b Mukesh Kumar	4	22	1	0	18.18
Dane Cleaver	c UD Yadav b RD Chahar	34	82	6	0	41.46
Robert O’Donnell	c AR Easwaran b Mukesh Kumar	5	14	0	0	35.71
Tom Bruce (C)	c RD Gaikwad b RD Chahar	13	26	2	0	50.00
Mark Chapman	c RD Gaikwad b Saurabh Kumar	92	115	8	2	80.00
Sean Solia	c RD Gaikwad b Saurabh Kumar	54	111	7	0	48.65
Joe Walker	lbw b Saurabh Kumar	2	15	0	0	13.33
Jacob Duffy	c Umran Malik b RD Chahar	5	11	0	0	45.45
Matthew Fisher	lbw b Saurabh Kumar	0	18	0	0	0.00
Cam Fletcher (WK)	Not out	8	6	1	0	133.33
Extra	12 (b 0, w 0, nb 11, lb 1)
Total	237/10 (71.2)

BOWLING	O	M	R	W	ECON
Shardul Thakur	14	5	33	1	2.40
Mukesh Kumar	16	2	48	2	3.00
Umran Malik	10	0	54	0	5.40
Saurabh Kumar	17.2	4	48	4	2.80
Rahul Chahar	14	0	53	3	3.80

India-A 1st Innings SCORECARD: 293/10

Batsmen		R	B	4S	6S	SR
Priyank Panchal (C)	c D Cleaver b Matthew Fisher	5	54	0	0	9.26
Abhimanyu Easwaran	c Matthew Fisher b SM Solia	38	83	2	1	45.78
Ruturaj Gaikwad	c D Cleaver b Joe Walker	108	127	12	2	85.04
Rajat Patidar	c D Cleaver b Matthew Fisher	30	52	4	1	57.69
Sarfaraz Khan	c D Cleaver b Matthew Fisher	0	2	0	0	0.00
Upendra Yadav (WK)	c RR O’Donnell b Joe Walker	76	134	9	2	56.72
Shardul Thakur	c Joe Walker b Rachin Ravindra	7	22	1	0	31.82
Rahul Chahar	c RR O’Donnell b JA Duffy	13	29	1	1	44.83
Saurabh Kumar	c RR O’Donnell b JA Duffy	9	9	2	0	100.00
Umran Malik	c Rachin Ravindra b Matthew Fisher	3	9	0	0	33.33
Mukesh Kumar	Not out	0	0	0	0	0.00
Extra	4 (b 1, w 2, nb 1, lb 0)
Total	293/10 (86.4)
Yet To Bat	Prasidh Krishna

BOWLING	O	M	R	W	ECON
Jacob Duffy	20.4	3	56	2	2.71
Sean Solia	16	6	47	1	2.94
Matthew Fisher	14	1	52	4	3.71
Rachin Ravindra	23	4	68	1	2.96
Joe Walker	11	0	65	2	5.91
Robert O’Donnell	2	0	4	0	2.00