A lifeless pitch at the JNNCE grounds contributed to an unremarkable day, which yielded just 196 runs and seven wickets.
Friday, the penultimate day of the second unofficial ‘Test’ between India ‘A’ and West Indies ‘A’, brought no comfort to either the batsmen or the bowlers.
In these circumstances, the home team’s V.A. Jagadeesh (86) and Abhishek Nayar (89) missed out on a chance to stand above the rest.
A big century in these conditions could have, perhaps, provided a fillip to their careers.
Jagadeesh added seven runs to his overnight score before falling to Miguel Cummins. The Kerala opener came down late on a full delivery from the fast bowler and the ball took out the leg-stump.
With sharp pace and late inward movement, Cummins was the only bowler who showed the stomach for a fight. He finished with figures of three for 58.
Bravado fails to pay
Nayar, who began the day on 56, continued with his cavalier approach.
The Mumbai all-rounder’s recent change to an aggressive mindset has brought him three fifties and an unbeaten 102 in his last five matches (first-class and domestic one-day games).
However, this shift prompted the use of the reverse-sweep to a near yorker from spinner Nikita Miller when on 89.
Nayar missed the quicker one and was declared leg-before. India ‘A’ was bowled out for 359, 47 short of the West Indies ‘A’ total.
But, with the match veering towards a draw, only the possibility of a spectacular individual performance on the final day remains of interest.
The scores:
West Indies ‘A’ — 1st innings: 406 in 121.5 overs.
India ‘A’ — 1st innings: V.A. Jagadeesh b Cummins 86 (198b, 8x4) , Gautam Gambhir c Edwards b Permaul 11 (44b, 1x4) , Cheteshwar Pujara c Powell b Miller 25 (90b, 1x4) , Virender Sehwag st. Walton b Permaul 7 (13b, 1x4) , Abhishek Nayar lbw b Miller 89 (88b, 9x4, 2x6) , Mohammed Kaif c Deonarine b Fudadin 26 (88b, 2x4) , Uday Kaul (not out) 64 (172b, 5x4, 1x6) , Parveez Rasool c Johnson b Deonarine 11 (48b) , Bhargav Bhatt c Miller b Cummins 11 (27b, 2x4) , Zaheer Khan b Cummins 0 (1b) , Mohammed Shami c Walton b Fudadin 15 (28b, 2x4) ; Extras (lb-4, nb-10): 14; Total (in 131.1 overs): 359.
Fall of wickets: 1-44 (Gambhir), 2-104 (Pujara), 3-114 (Sehwag), 4-213 (Jagadeesh), 5-245 (Nayar), 6-273 (Kaif), 7-304 (Rasool), 8-321 (Bhatt), 9-321 (Zaheer), 10-359 (Shami).
West Indies ‘A’ bowling: Fidel Edwards 4-0-30-0, Miguel Cummins 25-7-58-3, Veerasammy Permaul 32-8-88-2, Narsingh Deonarine 25-3-66-1, Nikita Miller 31-4-90-2, Assad Fudadin 14.1-3-23-2.
West Indies ‘A’ — 2nd innings: Kraigg Brathwaite (batting) 18 (45b, 4x4) , Kieran Powell (batting) 9 (39b, 1x4) ; Extras (lb-1): 1; Total (for no loss in 14 overs): 28.
India ‘A’ bowling: Zaheer Khan 5-2-6-0, Mohammed Shami 4-2-16-0, Parveez Rasool 3-2-1-0, Bhargav Bhatt 2-0-4-0.
