Published: Aug 14, 2015, 04:48 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 14, 2015, 05:13 PM (IST)
Gurkeerat Singh came into crisis, sprinkled his ingredients to make India A’s innings flower again, and eventually clinched a comfortable title win with a six as India A chased 227 with more than six overs to spare against Australia A in the final in Chennai. Walking in to bat in the 17th over, he saw three more wickets fall around him, collected himself before establishing comfort in his alliance with wicketkeeper Sanju Samson, and struck lusty blows towards the end to display an ideally constructed innings in the circumstances. His strike-rate was 70 to 80 for most of his innings, but eventually he brought it to 102.35.
The middle order could not build on the strong start provided by India A’s openers, and thereby crisis ensued. A pacy first-wicket stand, dominated by the in-form Mayank Agarwal, took India A to 59 before a strange run-out ended the stand. Agarwal leapt in the air to avoid getting hit by a throw, which hit the stumps when his feet were in the air. LIVE UPDATES: India A vs Australia A, final, A-team tri-series, Chennai
Three quick wickets fell thereafter: Unmukt Chand provided a straightforward catch to cover, Nair was given caught behind off a ball that cut through him, off Nathan Coulter-Nile. Kedar Jadhav for a brief while dominated the bowling, hitting five fours in a promising-looking partnership with Gurkeerat, before getting caught in the deep. Akshar Patel also gave away a solid start when he hooked Gurinder Sandhu for 24.
At 142 for 6 in the 29th over, India A were in danger of collapsing. Gurkeerat hit the occasional boundary, three of them impressive on-drives, two off Sandhu and one off Coulter-Nile, and otherwise collected runs through singles and doubles to maintain a run-rate of a touch below 5. Samson defended, even played maiden overs, but ground it out with Gurkeerat. READ: India A spinners restrict Australia A to 226 for 9 in the final of tri-series in Chennai
Gurkeerat’s fifth four was another piece of class: he late cut left-arm spinner Ashton Agar through third man in the 37th over. He lofted a drive through extra-cover in the 42nd over, when 28 were required off 54 balls. But one over later, he targeted leg-spinner Adam Zampa, hitting a four and two meaty sixes, to complete the win in convincing style.
Australia A were left to rue their only bad day of the tri-series, indeed their tour of India. Indian spinners, who were largely mediocre throughout the tournament, made the difference on the day of the final. Karn Sharma’s three wickets were three of eight to fall to spinners as Australia A limped to 226 for 9 in their 50 overs. If Karn provided drift and turn, the other bowlers provided control and seemed decidedly slower through the air.
Brief Scores:
Australia A 226 for 9 in 50 overs (Usman Khawaja 76, Joe Burns 41, Callum Ferguson 41; Karn Sharma 3 for 37, Akshar Patel 2 for 25) lost to India A 229 for 6 in 43.3 overs (Mayank Agarwal 32, Kedar Jadhav 29, Gurkeerat Singh 87; Ashton Agar 2 for 39) by four wickets
