Parthiv Patel top-scored with 94 before India-A declared at 467 for eight, but its bowlers struggled in the face of New Zealand-A’s strong response in the unofficial first Test here on Saturday.
The visitors had gone to stumps at 340 for five on the opening day at the Bay Oval.
Medium-pacer Blair Tickner was the most successful bowler for the home team, returning figures of four for 80.
New Zealand reached 176 for one at stumps on the second day. Opener Hamish Rutherford, son of former New Zealand captain Ken, was going strong at 106 off 169 balls, hitting 16 boundaries and a six. His opening partner, Will Young, made 49 before falling to off-spinner K. Gowtham.
Mohammed Siraj and Gowtham did the bulk of the bowling while medium-pacer Deepak Chahar proved to be ineffective as the New Zealand-A openers put on 121 runs.
Earlier, the experienced Parthiv narrowly missed out on a hundred, dismissed for 94 by Tickner who had earlier bagged the wickets of M.Vijay and Mayank Agarwal.
The wicketkeeper-batsman’s departure didn’t derail the Indian innings as Vijay Shankar stepped up to score an impressive 62 off 96 balls while Gowtham chipped in with 47.
While Rutherford was looking good, Glenn Phillips was giving him company with 13 runs from 60 balls at the close of play.
The scores: India-A 467 for eight decl. in 122.1 overs (Hanuma Vihari 86, Parthiv 94, Vijay Shankar 62, K. Gowtham 47, Blair Tickner four for 80) vs New Zealand-A 176 for one in 55 overs (Hamish Rutherford 106 batting, Will Young 49).
