India A crush West Indies A by 8 wickets to win 5th ODI
India A produced a dominating display beating the hosts West Indies A by 8 wickets in the 5th unofficial One day international played at Coolidge, Antigua on Sunday.
West Indies A captain Roston Chase won the toss and decided to bat first. Sunil Ambris and Ottley got the hosts off to a flying start putting pressure on India A bowlers adding 77 runs off 13.3 overs before Navdeep Saini got the breakthrough dismissing Ottley for 21. The India A bowlers kept picking wickets at regular intervals and never allowed West Indies A batsmen play with freedom.
Sherfane Rutherford played a quick-fire cameo scoring 65 off 70 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes and added crucial 52 runs for the 9th wicket with Pierre. India A bowled out West Indies for 236 in 47.4 overs. For India A, Saini, Rahul Chahar, Deepak Chahar took 2 wickets each. Khaleel Ahmed, Krunal Pandya, Axar Patel took 1 wicket each.
Chasing the target of 237 runs to win, Shubman Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad gave India A flying start with some powerful strokeplay. The India A openers added 110 runs for the opening wicket in just 11.4 overs. Shubman Gill was dismissed for a brilliant 69 off 40 balls.
Shreyas Iyer came to the crease at number 3 and continued his attacking approach. He was simply sensational with the bat showing his class. After being recalled to the Indian limited overs set-up, Iyer displayed attacking stroke play. Along with Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad played a wonderful innings of 99. Gaikwad and Iyer added 112 runs for the 2nd wicket. Iyer and Manish Pandey completed the job as India A won the fifth ODI by 8 wickets with 102 balls to spare.
India A won the 5 match ODI series by 4-1. It was a dominating display by the India A team who lost the 4th ODI by a narrow margin.
India A 237 for 2 in 33 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 99, Shubman Gill 69, Shreyas Iyer 61*, Keemo Paul 1/37) beat West Indies A 236 in 47.4 overs (Rutherford 65, Sunil Ambris 61, Navdeep Saini 2/31, Deepak Chahar 2/39) by 8 wickets.