India A vs SA A: Jurel stakes claim for Test berth with second ton in a row

BENGALURU: Dhruv Jurel made a strong case for his continued presence in the senior Test eleven with his second hundred in as many innings against South Africa A while fortifying India A’s position on the third day of the four-day match here on Saturday.

Jurel (127 not out) had the perfect foil in Harsh Dubey (84) during the sixth wicket stand worth 184 runs, guiding India A to 382 for seven declared in its second innings for an overall lead of 416.

At stumps, South Africa A was 25 for no loss, needing 392 more runs to overhaul the target of 417. Lesego Senokwane (9) and Jordan Hermann (15) were at crease.

Jurel was India’s wicketkeeper batter during the home Test series against the West Indies while Rishabh Pant was recuperating from a foot injury that he sustained in England.

Now recovered sufficiently, Pant is expected to take the place of Jurel in the eleven against South Africa next week but the former had certainly put the selectors in a quandary with twin hundreds in this match.

He had made an unbeaten 132 in the first innings here, and now, the five wise men will at least have to give a thought as to how to squeeze in Jurel in the eleven either in Kolkata or Guwahati.

Just like that century, this innings of his too was perfectly poised and did not offer a single chance to the SA bowlers.

Jurel once again unfurled his safe yet effective method to accumulate runs. There were hardly any aerial shots, and the runs flowed in through well-timed cuts past the point, drives through covers and flicks off his pads.

Jurel brought up his fifty in 83 balls while Dube, a tad quicker from 76 balls.

As the partnership began to blossom, SA might have been regretting the reprieve it gave to Dube even before he opened the account.

Dube’s expansive drive off left-arm spinner Kyle Simmonds was spilled at the first slip, and there wasn’t any more slip up for the next 178 minutes as he batted, blending guts and flair.

Jurel soon went past his 14th first-class ton off 159 balls with a flicked four off pacer Tiaan van Vuuren, as the sixth-wicket pair added 127 runs off 28 overs in a free-flowing middle passage.

However, Simmonds exacted a late revenge when he held on to a catch off Tshepo Moreki to dismiss Dubey, but by then India A had moved so much ahead in the game.

Brief scores: India A 255 & 382/7 decl. In 89.2 overs (D Jurel 127 not out, H Dubey 84, R Pant 65, O Cele 3/46) vs South Africa A 221 & 25/0 in 11 overs