MACKAY: Indian middle order batsman Kedar Jadhav’s unbeaten 93 from 83 balls took the visitors to six wicket victory against National Performance Squad in the one-day quadrangular 50 over tournament here today.
Batting first NPS scored 207 with loss of eight wickets in 50 overs, fast bowler Varun Aaron claimed three wickets putting best figure of 3/58. The other two spinners Jayant Yadav (1/34) and left-arm spinner Axar Patel (1/32) performance proved to be a stellar for the team, as they never gave batsman to settle on the crease especially in the middle overs. However, India easily managed to achieve their target in 38.2 overs with Jadhav adding 135-runs for the fourth wicket with Shreyas Iyer (62).
For NPS Sam Harper’s was the top scorer with 72 off 80 balls with six boundaries and Clint Hinchcliffe’s contribution of 43 with six boundaries. India A were in trouble after they quickly lost three wickets for 41/3 by Tom O’Donnell’s 4/28.
Openers Mandeep Singh (4), Karun Nair (14) and skipper Manish Pandey (10) were out in quick succession when Shreyas joined hands. Shreyas played a different game and kept on rotating the strike and hitting occasional boundary.
Jadhav’s feet movement against the spinners helped him getting the boundaries, relieving him from the pressure created by speedster O’Donnell.
After Shreyas dismissal of 62 off 93 balls with four boundaries, Hardik Pandya had to just finish the formalities with Jadhav.
India A are firm favourites to make it to the final with 16 points from five games. Brief scores: NPS 207/8 in 50 overs (S Harper 72, C Hinchliffee 43, V Aaron 3/58) lost to India A 208/4 in 38.2 overs (K Jadhav 93*, S Iyer 62, T O’Donnell 4/28) by 6 wickets. (AGENCIES)
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