India ‘A’ clinched the cricket tri-series title with a comfortable 50-run victory over Australia ‘A’ in a low-scoring final, relying on a clinical display by its bowlers.
Opting to bat on a placid strip, India could manage only 243 in 49.2 overs with Shikhar Dhawan (62) and Dinesh Karthik (73) being the notable contributors. The Indian bowlers then managed to bowl out the Aussies for 193 in 46.3 overs to guide the team to victory at the LC de Villiers Oval. It was India’s fifth ‘A’ tournament victory since the concept was introduced in 1994.
Speedster Mohammed Shami (two for 30) dealt initial blows to Australia ‘A’ and the likes of Shahbaz Nadeem (three for 34 in 10 overs), Perveez Rasool (one for 30 in 10 overs) and Suresh Raina (one for 33 in 10 overs) kept the Aussie batsmen under tight leash.
Earlier, despite half-centuries from Shikhar Dhawan (62) and Dinesh Karthik (73), India failed to cross 250-run mark due to the failure of the middle-order as the last five wickets fell for only 14 runs. India was decently placed at 229 for five at the end of 44th over before the slide began. Seamers Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Henriques, who have troubled the Indian batsmen throughout this series again, did a commendable job during the ‘death’ overs.
Hazlewood (three for 31) and Coulter-Nile (three for 35) were the pick of the bowlers.
The scores: India ‘A’: R. Sharma lbw b Hazlewood 6, S. Dhawan c Paine b Henriques 62, C. Pujara c Finch b Maxwell 1, D. Karthik b Coulter-Nile 73, S. Raina lbw b M. Marsh 17, A. Rayudu b Hazlewood 34, W. Saha c Maxwell b Henriques 31, P. Rasool c Hazlewood b Coulter-Nile 5, I. Pandey b Coulter-Nile 1, M. Shami b Hazlewood 3, S. Nadeem (not out) 0, Extras (lb-3, w-6, nb-1): 10, Total (in 49.2 overs): 243.
Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-34, 3-142, 4-158, 5-166, 6-229, 7-236, 8-238, 9-243.
Australia ‘A’ bowling: Hazlewood 10-1-31-3, Sandhu 6-0-50-0, Maxwell 5-1-24-1, Coulter-Nile 9.2-1-35-3, Fawad Ahmed 6-0-42-0, Henriques 10-0-47-2, M. Marsh 3-0-11-1.
Australia ‘A’: A. Finch b Shami 20, S. Marsh c Pujara b Shami 11, N. Maddinson c Raina b Pandey 7, G. Maxwell c Pujara b Raina 12, M. Marsh (run out) 2, M. Henriques c Raina b Nadeem 20, Tim Paine b Parvez Rasool 47, Nathan Coulter-Nile st. Saha b Nadeem 5, J. Hazlewood st Saha b Nadeem 30, G. Sandhu (not out) 21, F. Ahmed (run out) 9, Extras (lb-6, w-3): 9, Total (in 46.3 overs): 193.
Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-33, 3-50, 4-52, 5-53, 6-76, 7-88, 8-142, 9-176.
India ‘A’ bowling: Shami 7.3-1-30-2, Raina 10-1-33-1, Pandey 8-1-47-1, Nadeem 10-1-34-3, Dhawan 1-0-13-0, Rasool 10-1-30- 1.
This article has been corrected for a factual error.
