West Indies A cruising towards victory as Indian A batting collapses

India A first innings 202 (Cheteshwar Pujara 67, Rahul Sharma 30, Veerasammy Permaul 5-58) second innings 57-4 (Manoj Tiwary 15, Rohit Sharma 8, Delorn Johnson 4-20) requires 163 runs to win against West Indies A first innings 217 (Kraigg Brathwaite 66, Veerasammy Permaul 36, Shami Ahmed 4-43) and 204 (Jonathan Carter 74, Donovan Pagon 67, Akshay Darekar 6-67).

Delorn Johnson - Wrecker in chief in the second innings with 4-20
Delorn Johnson – Wrecker in chief in the second innings with 4-20

Delorn Johnson, crushed the top order batting of India A in their second innings and West Indies A anticipate a victory in the 2nd unofficial Test.

West Indies A were bowled out for 217 runs in their first innings and managed 204 in the second innings. India A scored 202 runs in the first innings and they were struggling at 57 for the loss of four wickets in their second innings at stumps on the third day. Manoj Tiwary and Rohit Sharma were trying  hard to consolidate the innings and the duo was at the crease for 15 and 8 runs respectively.

The third day of the 2nd unofficial Test concluded on Monday, June 11, 2012, at Arnos Vale Ground, Kingston, St Vincent.

Earlier, West Indies A initiated the third day at 6 without loss, Kraigg Brathwaite was unbeaten for 4 and Justin Guillen was at the other end at 1. India A got rid of the latter batsman with the addition of just five runs to the total as Kyle Corbin shared 25 runs for the second wicket before he was gone after scoring 16 runs. Brathwaite became the fourth victim at his individual feat of 21 and the fifth wicket fell at 81 runs.

Jonathan Carter and Donovan Pagon took charge of the situation and started playing positive cricket. The duo scored runs at their will and dictated their terms to all six rival bowlers used by the Indian A skipper, Cheteshwar Pujara. Pagon was the most aggressive of the two and punished the bowlers with great timings as Carter carried on adding useful runs and they stabilised the innings by accumulating valuable 86 runs for the sixth wicket.

The sixth wicket fell at 167 when Carter was caught by Abhinav Mukund off Ashok Dinda for 74 off 97 balls with 6 fours. Pagon went back to the pavilion one run later at his individual score of 67 off 72 deliveries which comprised 4 towering sixes and even fours. The incoming batsmen were unable to enter the double figures and the entire team was bowled out for 204 runs in 71.3 overs.

Akshay Darekar was the star performer with the ball by grasping six wickets, Rohit Sharma held two as Dinda and Shami Ahmed claimed one wicket each.

India A had a dreadful start by losing their first wicket for 14 runs as the left arm pacer, Delorn Johnson,  became unplayable in his opening spell. The batsmen found it hard to cope with his deadly fast bowling and the runs were hard to come. The visitors were put in the corner by Johnson who grabbed all four wickets, they were reeling at 30-4 and their top four batsmen could not touch the double figures. The skipper, Cheteshwar Pujara who has been doing well in the series was also among the victims and managed just a single.

Rohit Sharma and Manoj Tiwary defended well at the dying moments of the third day’s play and took the score to 57 without any further damage.

India A has won the first unofficial Test and is leading the three match series 1-0 but West Indies A are in sight of squaring the series on the fourth day of the 2nd unofficial Test.


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