Published: Sep 16, 2015, 04:34 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 16, 2015, 07:19 PM (IST)
Thanks to couple of all-round performances by Gurkeerat Singh Mann and Rishi Dhawan, India ‘A’ registered a comfortable 96-run victory against Bangladesh ‘A’ in the first one-dayer of the three-match series in Bengaluru on Wednesday. Chasing 323 to win, the Bangladesh A side were all out for 226 in 42.3 overs. For India A, besides Gurkeerat, Arvind Sreenath took three wickets, at the start of the Bangladesh A innings. However, a 120-run partnership for the sixth wicket, between Liton Das and Nasir Hossain, kept the visitors in the game. But the five-for by Gurkeerat, in which he removed the last five batsmen, handed the hosts an easy win. For the visitors, Liton top scored with 75 followed by a fighting 52 from Nasir. Blog: India ‘A’ vs Bangladesh ‘A’ 2015, 1st one-dayer at Bengaluru: IND post 320
The top four batsmen of the Bangladesh A side were expected to do bulk of the scoring — especially someone like Soumya Sarkar or Mominul Haque, who are important members of the senior team’s set-up. But Sreenath’s initial burst with the new ball pegged them back badly. Dhawan also chipped in with two wickets. Finally, Gurkeerat finished the job in style with 5 for 29. During the 120-run stand between Liton and Nasir, the Indian team looked a bit rattled, but they managed to keep their cool. Till the 37th over, Bangladesh A were in the game, but within next five overs, they lost the plot completely. They lost their last five wickets for just 19 runs.
Earlier in the first innings, Gurkeerat and Sanju Samson’s 110-run partnership for the sixth wicket powered India ‘A’ to a total of 322. The spin department of the visitors, led by Nasir, caused early damages by dismissing three batsmen early in the innings that left India ‘A’ at 76 for 3 after 15 overs. Indian skipper Unmukt Chand, who gave a flying start to his side alongside Mayank Agarwal failed to carry the momentum forward as he threw away his wicket in the fifth over, by giving the 20-year-old Liton his first catch of the day. Star attraction of the India A side, Suresh Raina, also failed to use this opportunity, as he could only manage to score 16 of 28 balls.
At one point of time, India were struggling at 125 for five. From there, Gurkeerat and Samson took over. While Gurkeerat smashed a 58-ball 65, Samson batted till the penultimate over, scoring 73 off 76 balls. For Gurkeerat, it was second match-winning performance in a row. In the final game of the recently concluded tri-series, involving India A, Australia A and South Africa A, the Punjab all-rounder played a series-deciding knock against the Aussies. Meanwhile, the young Samson, who has had one international appearance to his name, showed character by supporting his partner instead of going for big shots. After Gurkeerat’s dismissal, Samson took charge of the innings and helped India post a very good total, which proved enough for the hosts.
Keeping the experience of this Bangladesh side in mind, lot more was expected from them, but apart from few sparks, there were nothing, at least in this game. For India A, some of the senior players like Raina, will look to spend more time at the wicket. The next match of the series will be played on November 18 at the same venue.
Brief scores:
India ‘A’ 322 for 6 in 50 overs (Sanju Samson 73, Gurkeerat Singh Mann 65; Nasir Hossain 51 for 2, Shafiul Islam 60 for 2) beat Bangladesh ‘A’ 226 in 42.3 overs (Liton Das 75, Nasir Hossain 52; Arvind Sreenath 3 for 29, Gurkeerat Singh Mann 5 for 29) by 96 runs.
