India ‘A’ side is currently in South Africa. Having won the ODI tri series, the Indian team lost the first Test match against the South African by a huge margin.
But India leveled the two match series one- all. India ‘A’ skipper Karun Nair helped the team achieve the target of 226 in 62.3 overs. Nair scored a fluent 90 to help India register a comprehensive win over the host.
The only Indian after Virender Sehwag to score a triple century in Test cricket, Nair has struggled to find a place in the team after the Australian series. This match winning innings of 90 can be stated as his return to form. Nair was struggling to find his touch before this innings but will be confident and look forward to making a comeback to the team.
India ‘A’ side lost the first unofficial Test match by a huge margin of 235 runs and had conceded a first innings lead of 46 runs in the second match. But an inspirational performance by the bowling unit turned the game around for the Indian team. The South African team was bundled out for 177 runs and lost their last 5 wickets for just 39 runs.
Much of the credit for this victory should be given to the bowlers. Right arm fast bowler Ankit Rajpoot took (3-15) and left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem took (3-47) in the second innings. South Africa started well with the bat after winning the toss. Their opener Stephen Cook continued his good form from the first Test with a 98 in the first innings and 70 in the second innings. He was also dropped from the national squad for the four match Test series in England and will be hopeful of making a coming back in the side.
India’s second innings also didn’t start, losing Chatterjee and Shreyas Iyer early in the second innings. But Karun Nair and Samarth stabled the innings with a 74 runs third wicket partnership. Ankit Bawne then came in to add a match-winning partnership of 93 runs for the fourth innings. Nair got out with India needing two more runs for the victory. Eventually, India won the match by six wickets.