Needing 97 to win, India A lost four wickets but eventually crossed the line and acquired a 1-0 lead.
India A secured a comfortable six-wicket win over West Indies A in the first unofficial Test of the three-match series. Needing 97 to win, India A lost four wickets but eventually crossed the line and acquired a 1-0 lead.
READ: Wriddhiman Saha and Shivam Dube help India A gain 71-run lead
Overnight, India A were 29 for 1, and with West Indies A needing a herculean effort from their bowlers to seal a miraculous win, gave themselves a glimmer of hope of removing Abhimanyu Easwaran early. But a 49-run partnership between captain Hanuma Vihari and Srikar Bharat doused those hopes and ensured India A won without breaking much sweat.
READ: Second five wicket haul of the match for Shahbaz Nadeem
With Vihari and Bharat taking the score to 82, Rahkeem Cornwall and Jomel Warrican dismissed both set batsmen, but with just 17 more needed, Shivam Dube and Wriddhiman Saha steered India A to victory.
Shahbaz Nadeem emerged the star for India A, claiming five-wicket-hauls in both innings and finishing with match figures of 10/109. His Player-of-the-Match worthy performance kept West Indies A to 228 in the first innings after which India A acquired an 84-run lead in the first innings on the back of half-centuries from Saha and Dube, and a vital 49 from opener Priyank Panchal.
In the second innings, Nadeem strangles West Indies A again, and the host team was bowled out for 180, with only a fifty from skipper Shamarth Brooks being the significant contribution. Apart from with Nadeem’s 5/47, Mohammed Siraj also grabbed 3/38.
The second Test of the series starts on July 31 at the Port of Spain.
Brief scores: India A 312 (Shivam Dube 71, Wriddhiman Saha 66; Miguel Cummins 4-40) & 97/4 (Srikar Bharat 28 and Abhimanyu Easwaran 27) beat West Indies A 228 & 180 (Shamarh Brooks 53; Shahbaz Nadeem 5-47, Mohammed Siraj 3-38) by six wickets
