Skipper Priyank Panchal was left with 87 and a battling unbeaten 74 by keeper Kona Srikar Bharat brought India A to 229 for six on the second day of the rain-stricken second unofficial Test against New Zealand. After the first day’s game was canceled due to rain, 66 overs were bowled on the truncated second day and most of the top and middle batters failed to impress. Skipper Panchal’s knock came off 148 balls, with 12 fours and two sixes, while Bharat’s unbeaten knock saw him see 104 balls as he reached 10 limits.
The Panchal-Bharat duo saved India A with a 117 run fifth wicket score after being left in a tangle at 68 for four.
The three centurions from the previous ‘Test’ — Abhimanyu Easwaran (22), middle-class batter Rajat Patidar (4) and NT Tilak Varma (0) — were sacked cheaply as Ruturaj Gaikwad (5) recorded his second failure of the series.
Shardul Thakur (26), a late addition to the squad, was involved in a 38-run tie with Bharat to take India A past the 200-run.
For New Zealand A, pacers Jacob Duffy (2/55) and Logan van Beek (2/39) each took two wickets, while spinners Rachin Ravindra (1/20) and Sean Solia (1/58) took one wicket each .
Panchal and Easwaran started positively with 37 runs on the stroke of the first hour.
Easwaran had done most of the scoring thus far with five limits before right-armer Van Beek, who came in as one substitution, had the opener caught in the briefs by skipper Tom Bruce.
Another go-away delivery from Van Beek saw Gaikwad deliver one to keeper Cam Fletcher behind the stumps.
Patidar, who became restless after playing 16 spot balls, was brought in by Duffy, who got a return catch.
In his second spell, Duffy coming around the wicket had breached Tilak’s defense.
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However, Panchal and Bharat didn’t hold back on their stroke play as they scored 117 runs in just over 25 overs at a rate of over 4.5 runs per over before the skipper was sacked by Solia.
Short scores: India A 229/6 (Priyank Panchal 87, KS Bharat 74 batting, Logan Van Beek 2/39, Jacob Duffy 2/55) vs NZ A.
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