Bowlers Put South Africa A On Top
Aug 14, 2017 at 3:18 PM
South Africa A have been utterly dominant in the first of the two-match series against India A so far and is on the verge of scripting a sensational victory.
Riding on the back of a brilliant century by opener Stephen Cook, South Africa A managed to post a competitive 346 on the board. Shahbaz Nadeem and Mohammed Siraj was the pick of the Indian bowlers finishing with 4 wickets each.
Coming out to bat, India lost their openers Ravikumar Samarth and Ishan Kishan within the first 3 deliveries. Stylish batsman Shreyas Iyer played some delightful shots and struck 5 boundaries and a six during his brief stay. He couldn’t continue for long though and was removed by skiddy left-arm pacer Beuran Hendricks.
Wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals as Sudip Chatterjee and Ankit Bawne too was removed by Dane Piedt and Hendricks respectively. Karun Nair who made headlines with a triple century against England last year also failed to convert his start. Nair struck two gorgeous boundaries before falling prey to Piedt. He went for an expansive drive was but was holed out in the cover region.
Vijay Shankar who impressed one and all with his performance in the IPL for the Sunrisers Hyderabad was retired hurt after reaching a fluent 26. Shahbaz Nadeem also contributed with 21 as the Indian Colts were eventually skittled out for 120 in 39 overs. Beuran Hendricks and Dane Pieddt was the wreckers-in-chief for South Africa finishing with 3 wickets each. With a massive lead of 226 runs, South Africa didn’t enforce the follow on and went out to bat for the 2nd time in the match.
Stephen Cook and Aiden Markram again got the hosts off to a brisk start and started accumulating runs at will. Both the openers played some delightful shots before the fall of Cook’s wicket. When the article was written South Africa was 80/1 in their 2nd essay, leading India by 309 runs.