Thiruvananthapuram: Mumbai all-rounder Shivam Dube’s big-hitting prowess was well complemented by senior international Yuzvendra Chahal’s five-wicket haul as India A comfortably beat South Africa A by 69 runs in the first unofficial One Day encounter of the five-match series here on Thursday.
The muscular Dube smashed an unbeaten 79 off 60 balls that included a half a dozen of sixes and three boundaries which took India’s score to 327 for 6 in 47 overs.
His whirlwind seventh partnership of 121 off 71 balls with Axar Patel (60 no off 36 balls) gave Indian total an imposing look. In reply, Chahal warmed up nicely for the upcoming international assignments with figures of 5 for 47 as South Africa were all-out for 258 in 45 overs despite Reeza Hendricks’ century. Hendricks’s 110 off 108 balls went in vain as the Proteas weren’t exactly comfortable with the slow nature of the tracks.
Wicketkeeper-batsmen Heinrich Klaasen (58, 43 balls, 4 fours, 3 sixes) and Khaya Zondo (30) were the only other batsmen to make notable contributions as Chahal kept the SA ‘A’ batsmen in check. Earlier in the day, most of the Indian batsmen got starts but couldn’t convert into big scores. The highly-rated Shubman Gill (46, 47 balls, 7 fours) and captain Manish Pandey (39, 41 balls, 4 fours) were set but failed to score big. (PTI)
