South Africa A has defeated India A in the second unofficial Test being played at the BCCI Centre Of Excellence in Bengaluru by 5 wickets.
The Proteas team was chasing a mammoth 400+ total in the fourth innings (417 to be precise), and despite the presence of quality bowlers in the opposition, managed to secure the victory.
Two matches were played between these teams in this unofficial Test series, which has now concluded 1-1. Having said that, winning the second match must have given the visitors a major boost ahead of the first India vs South Africa Test match in Kolkata.
Dhruv Jurel Carried India A Through Batting Woes
Most of India A displayed poor batting form. KL Rahul was dismissed on 19 on the first day of this match, Abhimanyu Easwaran recorded a duck, Sai Sudharsan just 19 and Devdutt Padikkal was sent back on just 5 runs.
The captain, Rishabh Pant, himself was unable to score big, scoring 24.
It was only through Dhruv Jurel’s 132 that the team was able to post 255 runs on the board in their first innings.
When South Africa A came out to bat, they were bowled out on 221, thanks to wicket-takers Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, and the uncapped Harsh Dubey.
South Africa Carry Out Mammoth Chase
India A’s bating woes continued in their second innings, with another duck from Easwaran’s end and under-30 scores from rest of the batsmen.
Dhruv Jurel, though, scored another ton, 127, followed by Harsh Dubey’ 84, which allowed them to pile up 382 runs on the board, setting a target of 417.
They would have believed to be in a position of victory, given their performance with the ball, but South Africa A had different plans in mind.
They were resilient this time around, and with scores of 91, 77, 77, and 59 from Jordan Hermann, Lesego Senokwane, Zubayr Hamza and Temba Bavuma, respectively, came very close to the target.
At 5-wickets down, South Africa found another half-centurian in Connor Esterhuizen who saw the match through to the end, chasing down the hefty target.
