Batting collapse opens door for India A

TAUNTON, England, CMC – Test star Jermaine Blackwood and attacking opener John Campbell struck half-centuries but West Indies A suffered a batting collapse to let India A back into the second four-day “Test” here Thursday. Resuming the penultimate day at the Somerset County Ground on 96 for one in their second innings, Windies A were eventually dismissed for 210, with Blackwood topscoring with 67 and Campbell getting 61.

However, the last nine wickets tumbled for 85 runs, as new-ball seamers Mohammed Siraj (4-64) and Rajneesh Gurbani (3-64) ran through the innings.

Left with a target of 321, India produced another sterling second innings effort to end on 214 for three, with Hanuma Vihari top-scoring with an unbeaten 65, captain Karun Nair stroking 55 and Abhimanyu Easwaran chiming in with 31.

The right-handed Easwaran ensured a solid start to the innings when he put on 51 for the first wicket with Ravikumar Samarth (18).

Left-arm seamer Raymon Reifer removed Samarth to a catch at the wicket while fast bowler Romario Shepherd also claimed Easwaran to a catch also behind, to put West Indies A in control at 78 for two.

However, Vihari and Nair then combined in a solid 136-run, third wicket stand WINDIES A 1st Innings 302 INDIA A 1st Innings 192 WINDIES 2nd Innings 210 (Overnight 96 for one) J Campbell c wkp Pant b Mohammed Siraj +D Thomas c wkp Pant b Gurbani J Blackwood b Gurbani *S Brooks c wkp Pant b Mohammed Siraj S Ambris c (sub) b Nadeem V Singh c Samarth b Mohammed Siraj 16 R Reifer c Easwaran b Gurbani 0 R Shepherd c wkp Pant b Mohammed Siraj 5 J Warrican c (sub) b Yadav 1 S Lewis b Yadav 0 O Thomas not out 6 Extras (b7, lb12, w1, nb2) 22 TOTAL (all out, 57.3 overs) 210 Fall of wickets: 1-51, 2-125, 3-137, 4-160, 5-180, 6-180, 7-203, 8-204, 9-204, 10-210. Bowling: Mohammed Siraj that put the Indians back in control of the run chase

The right-handed Vihari struck five fours in an innings lasting 123 balls in just over 21/2 hours while Nair slammed eight fours in a counter-attacking 63-ball knock before perishing to the final delivery of the day.

Blackwood and Campbell had earlier extended their second 61

25 67

2 5

INDIA A 2nd Innings (target: 321 runs) R Samarth c wkp Thomas b Reifer A Easwaran c wkp Thomas b Shepherd 31 K Nair c Campbell b Warrican 55 H Vihari not out 65 Extras (b25, w17, nb3) 45 TOTAL (3 wkts, 46 overs) 214 Fall of wickets: 1-51, 2-78, 3-214. Bowling: Lewis 9-1-35-0, Thomas 10-1-54-0, Reifer 12-129-1, Shepherd 5-1-25-1, Warrican 7-0-30-1, Campbell 3-0-16-0. Position: India A require 107 runs with seven wickets intact. Toss: Windies A. Umpires: M Newell, N Bainton. 18

wicket stand to 74 before being separated.

Resuming on 23, Blackwood belted eight four and a six off 84 balls in 142 minutes while Campbell, on 43 at the start, counted seven fours and a six in an innings spanning 102 balls and in just about 2-3/4 hours at the crease