The hosts, who had given up a significant 75-run advantage after the first innings, needed comeback man Rishabh Pant to do the majority of the scoring in the chase.
On Sunday, November 2, at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, India ‘A’ narrowly defeated South Africa ‘A’ by three wickets. With six wickets remaining on the last day, the hosts needed to score 156 runs to win. They crossed the finish line thanks to an undefeated 62-run partnership between Manav Suthar (20*) and Anshul Kamboj (37*).
The captain deservedly answered with a strong 90. On the last day, he started with 64 and had added 14 more runs by the end of the first over. Okhule Cele hit a couple of exquisitely directed fours through the offside after a gloriously lofting the second ball of the day over extra cover for six.
Ayush Badoni, on the other hand, started the day with a couple of delicious boundaries, one of which drew a cheer from Pant.
In Prenelan Subrayen’s opening over, Senokwane, however, dismissed the India A skipper at short fine, giving the visitors their second reprieve of the innings. However, Tiaan van Vuuren’s recent mishap cost South Africa ‘A’ just 10 more runs when he caught Pant with a short-of-length delivery that caused an awkward reaction and led to a crisp catch in the slips.
Additionally, van Vuuren picked up Badoni with a short ball after his attempts at a pull found deep square leg, adding to the visitors’ joy. As India A dropped to 215 for 7, still 60 runs short of the objective, South Africa continued to use the short-ball strategy, and Lutho Sipamla took out Tanush Kotian. The loss of those three wickets threatened to ruin India A’s pursuit, despite the fact that they had managed 97 runs in the opening session of play.
Kamboj and Suthar met at that point. Even if it meant taking occasional hits to the body, Kamboj took the offensive against the short ball as the latter blocked from one end. Two close shaves occurred, one landing between fielders and the other rolling away for four. With greater confidence, Kamboj slogswept Subrayen to reduce the target to 11 against spin.
The pair was sufficient to get the team over the finish line, as Suthar held tight at the other end with his undefeated 20.
India
