Published: Sep 21, 2013, 01:50 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 21, 2013, 01:50 PM (IST)
Yuvraj Singh top-scored for India with 52 runs © IANS (File Photo)
By Abhijit Banare
Sep 21, 2013
A hat-trick for Andre Russell didn’t make much difference as India A posted a challenging 214 for the loss of seven wickets against West Indies A in the one-off Twenty20 match at Bangalore.
With a noon start there was not much juice in the pitch unlike the morning start in the one-day series where the ball does move. Yuvraj Singh chose to bat after winnings the toss. And the wayward start by the West Indies bowlers didn’t help much either. Openers Robin Uthappa and Unmukt Chand freed their arms picking boundaries at will. The duo slammed 58 in the first five overs and Nikita Miller helped the Indians by dropping a sitter offered by Chand. The visitors finally managed to dismiss Uthappa after the batsman missed a faster delivery by Veerasammy Permaul and was out leg before for 35.
The Caribbean side continued with their sloppy fielding under pressure as Chand was dropped again by Ronsford Beaten before Kirk Edwards took a brilliant catch running backwards in the same over to send back the Delhi youngster for 47. Ashley Nurse was the most effective bowler for the West Indians backing Chand’s dismissal by removing Baba Aparajith as well for just three runs.
With Yuvraj at the crease, runs kept coming and he was joined by Kedar Jadhav who used some long handle as well. The former continued to impress with his fluent shots launching Andre Russell for consecutive sixes in the 16th over. With the batsmen in full flow it was always going to be a defensive mindset for the visitors with fielder manning the boundary lines and more often doubling up as spectators watching the ball fly into the stands.
From the other end Jadhav backed Yuvraj’s aggression with two more sixes in the 17th over off Nkrumah Bonner. Yuvraj’s fitness seems to have influenced his timing as well with short jabs landing four rows back in the stands. Meanwhile the bowlers were left baffled and ended up conceding a few more extras as well with their erratic line.
However, towards the end, India A’s explosive innings faded with a flurry of wickets with Andre Russell picking four wickets in as many deliveries dismissing Jadhav (42), Yuvraj (52), Naman Ojha (0) and Yusuf Pathan (0). The latter two wickets was more of carelessness on part of batsmen failing to keep their shots along the ground. Yuvraj’s 52 came off 35 balls while Jadhav scored 42 off 21.
For once 200 looked out of reach but an erratic last over from Beaton along with Sumit Narwal’s cameo helped the hosts reach their eventual total. Tough ask for West Indies A and they will hoping for their batsmen to click. Andre Russell’s hard-hitting skills will be the key in this chase.
Brief scores:
India A in 214 for 7 in 20 overs (Yuvraj Singh 52, Unmukt Chand 47; Andre Russell 4 for 45) vs West Indies A.
Catch live updates of the one-off T20 match between India A and West Indies A here
(Abhijit Banare is a reporter at CricketCountry. He is an avid quizzer and loves to analyse and dig out interesting facts which allows him to learn something new every day. Apart from cricket he also likes to keep a sharp eye on Indian politics, and can be followed on Twitter and blog)
