India A beat New Zealand A by five wickets, seal series

NEW DELHI: India A defeated New Zealand A by five wickets in the second unofficial ODI at Mount Maunganui, New Zealand to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. Asked to bat, hosts New Zealand A rode on Will Young’s 102 and George Worker’s 99 to post 299/9 in their 50 overs. For India A, fast bowlers Khaleel Ahmed and Navdeep Saini took two wickets apiece. In reply, skipper Manish Pandey’s unbeaten 111 and Vijay Shankar’s half-century helped the visitors cross the line with an over to spare. The third and final ODI will be held at the same venue on Tuesday.

Brief scores: New Zealand A 299/9 in 50 overs (Will Young 102, George Worker 99; Khaleel Ahmed 2/65, Navdeep Saini 2/68) lost to India A 300/5 in 49 overs (Manish Pandey 111*, Vijay Shankar 59; Cole Mcconchie 2/39) by 5 wickets. Day 4 resumed with India leading by 165 runs. Australia started with pacers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood and not spinner Nathan Lyon. It only took four wicketless overs for skipper Tim Paine to change his mind and introduce Lyon but it had already allowed Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane 15 minutes to settle down.

In the second innings, Pujara, who scored 123 in the first innings, came down the track to 40 deliveries from Lyon but scored only 8 runs. However, it disrupted Lyon’s length, allowing Pujara play back to 39 balls and score 28 runs off them. He fell playing forward though. Each of the two Tests India have won abroad this year couldn’t have been possible without Rahane --- a second-innings 48 in Johannesburg after being left out of the first two Tests and 81 in the first innings of the Trent Bridge Test. On Sunday, he hit a 147-ball 70 to help India push for the first Test win.

It took 88 balls from Lyon to dismiss Pujara in the third innings. Pujara’s footwork had helped him control most of his contest with Lyon but change in the field setting made a difference, drawing false shots off Pujara’s bat. Once Lyon got Pujara, he ran though India’s middle and lower order, finishing with 6/122.