Fifties for Bawne, Iyer; Siraj four-fer in India A’s draw

The weather-affected second unofficial Test between India A and South Africa A at Alur ended in a much expected draw, meaning India A won the two-match series 1-0 courtesy that thrilling penultimate-over victory at the Chinnaswamy Stadium last week.

Starting the fourth day on 294 for 7 and threatening to sneak past India A’s first-innings total, South Africa A ended up conceding a narrow 26-run lead, thanks to the firepower of Mohammed Siraj, who ended up picking two of the three wickets to fall today (Monday August 13, 2018). Siraj, as a result, finished with four wickets in the innings, taking his series tally to 14 wickets across three innings. Ankit Rajpoot, coming in for Rajneesh Gurbani ended up with three in the innings.

Batting for the second time, India A opener Prithvi Shaw fell early to Duanne Olivier, this time bowled, whereas the first-innings centurion Hanuma Vihari registered a duck, leg-before to the same bowler. Senuran Muthusamy bowled Mayank Agarwal to leave India A three down for 54 before an 86-run stand for the fourth wicket between Shreyas Iyer (65) and Ankit Bawne (64) stabilize the side. Bawne, who struck 80 in the first innings, impressed again, this time remaining unbeaten before bad weather forced early end of the match.

Brief scores: India A 345 (Hanuma Vihari 148, Ankit Bawne 80; Duanne Olivier 6-63) & 181/4 (Shreyas Iyer 65, Ankit Bawne 64*) drew with South Africa A 319 (Zubayr Hamza 93, Sarel Erwee 58; Mohammad Siraj 4-72, Ankit Rajpoot 3-52).

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