Gaikwad shines in 92-run win for India ‘A’ over NZ ‘A’

 Batting first, India ‘A’ scored 279 for eight in its stipulated overs. It then dismissed New Zealand ‘A’ for 187 in 41.1 overs with left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed getting four wickets. Put into bat, skipper Shubman Gill (50 off 66 balls) hit a half-century, adding 89 runs for the second wicket with another specialist opener Ruturaj Gaikwad (93 off 103 balls), who came in at one drop to accommodate Mayank Agarwal (8).

Once Gill was out after hitting seven fours, Gaikwad joined forces with Suryakumar Yadav, who hit a 48-ball-50. The latter’s innings was laced with four fours and two sixes as the duo added 89 runs. While Suryakumar attacked, Gaikwad held anchor at one end. During the final phase of the innings, Krunal Pandya struck a 31-ball 41 with Sanju Samson (4) and Vijay Shankar (13) failing to make an impact.

New Zealand ‘A’ started off with an 82-run opening stand between Jakob Bhula (50) and Jack Boyle (42) but Khaleel (4/43) and Mohammed Siraj (2/33) did the bulk of the damage with the ball and helped India ‘A’ register an easy win.

Brief scores: India ‘A’ 279 for 8 in 50 overs (R Gaikwad 93, Suryakumar 50, S Gill 50) vs New Zealand ‘A’ 187 all-out in 41.1 overs (J Bhula 50, K Ahmed 4/43).