India A 222 for 6 (Shaw 77, van Beek 3-46) beat New Zealand A 219 (Carter 72, Ravindra 61, Kuldeep 4-51, Dhawan 2-16, Chahar 2-50) by four wickets
Kuldeep Yadav‘s four-wicket burst, which included a hat-trick, backed up by
Prithvi Shaw‘s 48-ball 77 headlined India A’s comfortable four-wicket win over New Zealand A in the second unofficial ODI in Chennai. With this win, India A took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Batting first, the visitors lost Chad Bowes in the sixth over to
Umran Malik. Dane Cleaver fell soon after, but
Rachin Ravindra held fort with a 65-ball 61.
Rishi Dhawan then got into the act sending back Ravindra and captain Robert O’Donnell in the space of three balls as New Zealand A slipped to 106 for 4 that soon became 133 for 5 with Raj Bawa removing Tom Bruce.
Joe Carter, who has been excellent
all through this tour, kept fighting. He struck one four and three sixes in his 72 off 80 balls but found little support from the other end. He added 57 runs for the sixth wicket with Sean Solia, but once Carter fell to Rahul Chahar in the 42nd over, New Zealand A folded quickly. Kuldeep claimed a hat-trick, removing New Zealand A’s last three batters – Logan van Beek caught by Shaw, Joe Walker caught behind by Sanju Samson and Jacob Duffy out lbw – to wrap up the innings on 219.
Already behind in the game, New Zealand A suffered even further as Shaw came out swinging. The opener smashed 11 fours and three sixes during his knock, adding 82 runs for the first wicket with Ruturaj Gaikwad, and 49 more for the second wicket with Rajat Patidar.
India A did lose their way a bit in the middle, slipping from 131 for 1 to 134 for 4 with Patidar, Shaw, and Tilak Varma falling in the space of nine balls. However, Samson and Dhawan took the hosts forward with a 46-run stand before Shardul Thakur’s 24-ball 25 not out provided the finishing touches.
The third and final game of the series will take place at the same venue on Tuesday.
