Devdutt Padikkal and Sai Sudharsan finally showed some fight for India A in the first unofficial Test against New Zealand A on Sunday, but it was not before KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal once again lost their wickets for low scores.
After being bundled out for 113 in the first innings, one expected a more solid effort in the second innings, and Padikkal (56*) and Sudharsan (39*) provided just that on Day 2, taking India A to 106/2 at stumps, with the visitors still trailing by 98 runs.
When India A’s innings began, Yashasvi and Rahul were dismissed quite cheaply, and the signs seemed ominous, but Padikkal and Sudharsan, among whom one is likely to start in the main Test series against New Zealand, dug their heels in, surviving the probing spells, ensuring India ended the day just two wickets down.
Yashasvi was the first wicket to fall for India A in the second innings, and he was undone by a peach of a delivery. There was nothing much he could do about the snorter dished out by Simon Keene.
The left-hander tried to sway away from the line, but the short ball nipped back, thudding into his glove and flying to the wicketkeeper. Jaiswal managed 5 runs in the second innings, and this marked an end to a disappointing game for him, where he previously scored 17 in the first innings.
While Jaiswal might have been done by an excellent delivery, the same could not be said about his opening partner, KL Rahul. Just like the first innings, the right-hander prodded the front foot forward off a Fraser Sheat delivery, dragging a nothing delivery outside off-stump back onto his own stumps.
The ball rolled back slowly, and Rahul tried his best to stop it with his bat. The replays later showed that the ball didn’t roll back onto the stumps; it was Rahul’s bat that dislodged the bails, and hence he was hit wicket, walking back after scoring 4 off 15 balls.
Padikkal and Sudharsan then came together at the crease, mixing caution with aggression and moving the scoreboard along. Padikkal, who scored two centuries in the last Test series against Sri Lanka, was the more assured batter between the two. Sudharsan was wrapped on the pads quite a lot, but he showed the stomach to grind it out, not throwing his wicket away.
How did New Zealand A’s innings unfold?
Resuming Day 2 at 135/3, New Zealand added 24 more runs to the total before losing their fourth wicket in the form of Curtis Heaphy (44). The first wicket of the day for India A was provided by Anshul Kamboj.
The visitors then struck consistently; however, once again dismissing the tail proved to be India’s Achilles heel. From being 218/7 at one stage, New Zealand A got to 317 as the final three wickets added 99 more runs to the total, extending the hosts’ lead to 204 runs.
Dean Foxcroft (51), Kristian Clarke (42), and Mitchell Hay (24) made valuable contributions to help New Zealand A further strengthen their position in the first unofficial Test. For India A, Kamboj and Auqib Nabi scalped three wickets each.