Manish Pandey's century helps India A seal the series with 5 wicket win
India A continued their brilliant form beating New Zealand A by 5 wickets in the 2nd unofficial One-day international match at Mount Maunganui on Sunday. It was a high scoring affair as the hosts posted a competitive total but India A chased down the target courtesy of a century from captain Manish Pandey.
Earlier, India A won the toss and decided to field first. Khaleel Ahmed dismissed Rutherford for 8 runs in the very first over. Will Young and George Worker steadied the innings with a superb partnership of 190 runs for the second wicket. Both of them took on the Indian bowlers making sure that hosts were on course for a big total. Young was dismissed for 102 off 106 balls whereas Worker made 99.
The Indian A bowlers made a strong comeback as they picked wickets at regular intervals and put pressure on New Zealand A batsmen. India A restricted New Zealand A to 299 for 9 in 50 overs. For India A, Khaleel Ahmed, Navdeep Saini took 2 wickets each while Siddarth Kaul, Axar Patel, and Gowtham took 1 wicket each.
Chasing the target of 300 runs to win, Mayank Agarwal and Shubman Gill gave the team a quick-fire start adding 40 runs for the opening wicket in 6.2 overs. Mayank Agarwal was dismissed for 25 runs.
After the fall of Gill’s wicket, Pandey and Iyer played with positive intent adding 90 runs for the third wicket. Iyer was dismissed for 59 off 63 balls. Vijay Shankar and Pandey showed their class adding 123 runs for the fourth wicket, which saw the former make 59 while the skipper led from the front, remaining not out on 110.
India A won the match by 5 wickets with 1 over to spare. For New Zealand A, Hamish Bennett and Cole McConchie took 2 wickets each.
India A 300 for 5 in 49 overs ( Manish 110*, Iyer 59, Vijay Shankar 59, Hamish Bennett 2/45, Cole McConchie 2/39) beat New Zealand A 299 for 9 in 50 overs ( Will Young 102, George Worker 99, Daryl Mitchell 45, Khaleel Ahmed 2/65, Navdeep Saini 2/68) by 5 wickets.
India A sealed the 3 match ODI series 2-0. The third match will be played on 11th December.