BANGALORE, India (CMC):
A scintillating century by Yuvraj Singh and a blistering 70 not-out by Yusuf Pathan guided India A to a 77-run victory in the first one-day cricket match against West Indies A at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium yesterday.
The Indians set the visitors a huge target of 313 in a reduced 42-over-per-side match and then restricted them to 235 off 39.1 overs. The match had a two-hour late start due to a wet outfield.
Chasing the target, West Indies A were reduced to 58 for three in the 11th over and, after a brief recovery with a 54-run stand between Narsingh Deonarine (57) and Andre Fletcher (29), they again lost quick wickets.
Struggling at 181 for eight, there was little that Ashley Nurse and Ronsford Beaton could do as they battled on to take their team past the 200-run mark. The duo had taken the team to 205 when Beaton was out hit-wicket for 15.
Facing an impossible task of getting 108 off 32 balls, the last batsman Miguel Cummins, joined Nurse who continued to take on the opposition bowlers. He hit two sixes and brought up his half-century. But in the next over, Nurse (57) nicked Narwal to the wicketkeeper, bringing the curtains down on his innings and the match.
Earlier, India A, invited to bat first, lost opener Unmukt Chand with just eight runs on the scoreboard and 39 runs later, Robin Uthappa became debutant Miguel Cummins’ second victim of the day.
Captain Yuvraj Singh then joined Mandeep Singh in the middle and shaped the India A innings.
Singh, who is making a claim for national team selection, entertained onlookers with a ton. He was involved in two century partnerships – with Mandeep Singh and Pathan.
Yuvraj’s 100-run stand with Mandeep Singh for the third wicket helped lay the platform for the fireworks that followed later in the innings. After Nikita Miller bowled Mandeep Singh to end the stand, the big-hitting Pathan joined Yuvraj in the middle. Scoring at over 13 runs per over, the pair took the game away from the West Indies by notching a 125-run partnership.
While the India A captain smashed seven sixes during his 89-ball 123, Pathan sent the ball over the ropes six times during his 32-ball blitz.
Andre Russell took 1-17.