India A 8-291 (Ashok Menaria 69, Kedar Jadhav 69, Mandeep Singh 37*, Mark Gillespie 3-43) beat New Zealand A 9-290 (Anton Devcich 66, Corey Anderson 59, Tom Latham 53, Basant Mohanty 2-39) by two wickets.
India A grabbed the final unofficial ODI in an interesting encounter with their powerful batting while Mandeep Singh gave a finishing touch vs. New Zealand A.
The Black Caps A scored 290 with one wicket remaining at the end of the stipulated 50 overs and the Blue Shirts A hammered 291 for the loss of 8 wickets and four balls still in hand.
The third and final unofficial One Day International was played on Thursday, September 12, 2013, at Dr.Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam.
Earlier, Unmukt Chand, the captain of India A, won the toss and invited his rival team to bat first. The decision looked beneficial as the visitors lost their first wicket at 6 when Carl Cachopa got together with Anton Devcich who hit 3 fours in the 8th over. The batsmen preferred to attack and got the boundaries at regular intervals and Devcich attained his 8th List A fifty in the 18th over. Cachopa was dropped 25 in the 19th over and the first hundred of the innings was posted on board two overs later. Carl Cachopa was gone at 109 after scoring 33 runs and Anton Devcich followed him 14 runs later for 66 off 85 balls with 8 fours.
The skipper of New Zealand A, Tom Latham along with Corey Anderson took on the responsibility of consolidation and the latter hit the first six of the day in the 32nd over. Anderson reached his 4th List A half century in the 36th one whereas Latham was doing fine at his end. The fourth wicket fell at 214 in 38.2 overs as Corey Anderson was clean bowled by Jalaj Saxena for 59 off just 45 with 2 big sixes and 6 fours. Tom Latham dispatched 3 fours in the next one and got his 4th List A fifty. He was the fifth batsman who went back to the pavilion for 53 off 48 deliveries with 6 fours. Scott Kuggeleijn and Todd Astle contributed 29 and 27 as the visitors piled up 9-290 in 50 overs.
Basant Mohanty, Jalaj Saxena and Ashok Menaria shared two wickets each whereas Rahul Sharma picked one.
Robin Uthappa and Unmukt Chand went into chase for the home side in a slow mode by scoring 7 runs in the first four overs. Uthappa hit two consecutive fours in the next one and Chand got his first boundary on the 22nd ball he faced but was caught behind by Luke Ronchi off Mark Gillespie for 11. The second wicket was lost at 43 as Sachin Baby walked in the park whereas Uthappa accumulated 10 runs in the 16th over with 1 six and 1 four. The latter went back to the dressing room at 78 at his personal feat of 46 off 50 balls with 1 six and 6 fours. Baby was the next casualty for 16 as Kedar Jadhav and Ashok Menaria associated at the crease.
Jadhav hit two consecutive fours in the 24th over while Menaria punished Todd Astle for 24 runs in the next one with 3 grand sixes and 1 four. The run rate was picked up instantly by the duo who gathered another 4 sixes in the coming overs and Ashok Menaria powered his 6th List A fifty on the 28th delivery with a lofty six. Kedar Jadhav registered his 11th List A half century in the 35th over and the second hundred of the innings was illuminated on the screen in the next one. Jadhav was run out for 57 off 61 with 2 sixes and 5 fours on the first ball of the 38th over and Menaria was gone three balls later for 69 from 50 comprising 8 giant sixes and 2 fours. Mandeep Singh and Rahul Sharma rescued their team who piled up 8-291 in 49.2 overs. Mandeep Singh smashed unbeaten 37 off just 27 with 1 six and 3 fours whereas Sharma contributed 20.
Mark Gillespie was the top wicket taker with three whereas Dough Bracewell, Kuggeleijn, Corey Anderson and Ish Sodhi shared one wicket each.
India A Clinched the encounter by a margin of two wickets and flew away with a clean sweep of 3-0 against New Zealand A.
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