Tamil Nadu all-rounder Vijay Shankar and Shreyas Iyer starred as India A defeated New Zealand A in an unofficial ODI in Mount Maunganui on Friday.
New Zealand A ended their first innings with 308/6 after they were put to bat by India A. Three of their batsmen-Hamish Rutherford (70), Tim Seifert (59) and James Neesham (79) made significant contributions to help their team to a high score.
But India’s response was led by Shankar, who scored 87 runs off 80 balls and also stitched a 116 run partnership for the fifth-wicket with left-hander Ishan Kishan (47). Iyer notched up a half-century as India A eventually crossed the finishing line with an over to spare. This win gave India A the lead in the three-match series.
India’s chase got off to a flying start with Mayanak Agarwal and Shubman Gill scoring 61 runs for the opening partnership. But they fell in quick time. The same thing happened with captain Manish Pandey, who added 85 runs with Shreyas Iyer. Both batters were sent back in three balls by fast bowler Hamish Bennett. But the Shankar-Kishan partnership wwas what took India over the line.
Brief score: India A: 311 for 6 (Shankar 87 not out, Iyer 54; Bennett 2/65) beat New Zealand A 308 for 6 (Neesham 79 not out, Rutherford 70; Siddarth Kaul 2/74) by four wickets.
(Image credit-Sportzwiki)