Finally cricket happened.
About 65 minutes after the scheduled start of the second day, the second ‘Test’ between India A and New Zealand A got underway: the steady drizzle had stopped and the dark clouds had cleared over the picturesque KSCA Stadium on Friday. Morning.
Cricket was also in turmoil – until the rain quickly drew to a close, with about 25 minutes left. The hosts had reached 229 for six, which was a considerable improvement from their score on the first day.
After the visiting fast bowlers did well to quickly send all three century-makers from the first ‘Test’ into the dressing room, captain Priyank Panchal (87, 148b, 12×4, 2×6) and wicketkeeper KS Bharat (74 batting, 104) b, 10×4) made a great comeback with his fifth wicket stand of 117.
The Kiwi bowlers, justifying the decision of their captain Tom Bruce, reduced India A to 68 for four in one leg. Abhimanyu Easwaran, whose smooth drive on the off-side suggested he could continue from where he left off in Bengaluru, was the first to go. Logan van Beek’s ball swings a lot and the opener’s edge slips.
Like Abhimanyu, two other centuries of the first ‘Test’, Rajat Patidar and Tilak Verma, also failed against New Zealand-A’s fine seam attack, which also featured Jacob Duffy, Benjamin Lister and Sean Solia. He was taking good bounce and moving the ball, and was not allowing the batsmen to freeze.
But for Panchal’s perseverance and determination, he would have put the Indian innings under further pressure. The captain played a spirited innings, and in India, he got the badly needed support to stabilize the ship.
Their partnership came to an end when Panchal was caught at short cover by Solia. Bharat, however, continued his vigil, and played some pleasant strokes as well.
Score:
India A – 1st Innings: Priyank Panchal c Cleaver b Solia 87, Abhimanyu Easwaran c Bruce b van Beek 22, Ruturaj Gaikwad c Fletcher b van Beek 5, Rajat Patidar c and B Duffy 4, Tilak Verma b Duffy 0, KS Bharat (Batting) 74, Shardul Thakur c Chapman b Ravindra 26, Rahul Chahar (Batting) 4; extra (lb-1, nb-1, w-5): 7; Total (for five wickets. In 66 overs): 229.
Fall of wickets: 1-37, 2-53, 3-62, 4-68, 5-185, 6-223.
New Zealand A Bowling: Duffy 18-5-55-2, Lister 16-1-41-0, Van Beek 12-2-39-2, Ravindra 6-2-20-1, Solia 12-2-58-1, Rippon 2-0 -15-0.
Toss: New Zealand – A.