Mayank Agarwal's brillaint knock guides India A to victory over South Africa in T20 warm up game
India A, powered by opening batsman Mayank Agarwal’s knock of 87 from 49 balls, chased down South Africa’s total of 189 condemning the visitors to a surprising defeat in their opening T20 warm-up game. Agarwal’s 119-run opening wicket stand with Manan Vohra, set the hosts on their way before Sanju Samson did the closing out work.
The crowd gathered at the Palam A Ground in New Delhi were in for a run-feast as runs were scored at nearly 10 runs an over with the bowlers suffering at the hands of the batsmen in the blazing sun. The effort by Agarwal overshadowed an equally brilliant knock by JP Duminy who set up the daunting target for South Africa with his knock of 68 from just 32 balls, including six hits over the fence.
The South African batsmen seemed to have done the work already as they smashed the young Indian bowlers all around the field. The visitors, opting to bat first after winning the toss, suffered an early blow as wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock was run out by Mandeep Singh. That wicket brought skipper Faf du Plessis to join the dangerous AB de Villiers and the two set out to do some serious damage.
De Villiers, who made 37 from 27 balls, and Du Plessis, who retired hurt after scoring 42 from 27 balls, forged an 87 run partnership for the 2nd wicket that helped South Africa post 90 in their first 10 overs. It was Duminy’s blistering knock however that raised the tempo though they will be disappointed that they weren’t able to cross the 200-run mark.
Behardien, who scored just 17 from 20 balls and David Miller, who scored 10 from 11 balls were the guilty parties as the Indian bowlers were able to restrict the south African scoring late on. Kuldeep Yadav was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4-0-26-1.
That run shortage proved costly in the end as Agarwal and Vohra were quick of the blocks to launch an assault at the South African bowlers – one which they were not able to recover from. Agarwal missed out on a well-deserved century but will no doubt be thrilled at his match-winning knock.
The victory capped off a brilliant day for the India A, with a separate squad getting the better of Bangladesh A in a one-off three-day match held at Bangalore.
Scorecard:
South Africa won the toss and decided to bat first
South Africa – 189/3 of 20 overs. ( Duminy 68, Du Plessis 42)
India A – 192/3 of 19.4 overs (Agarwal 87, Vohra 56)
India A won by 8 wickets