Pretoria: India A were set a stiff target of scoring 307 runs to win the second and final unofficial Test after South Africa A declared their second innings at 166 for five on the penultimate day here on Monday.
At stumps, India A were 3/1 from the four overs they faced in their second innings, needing 304 more runs to win the match with nine wickets in hand.
Captain Cheteshwar Pujara was batting on two while nightwatchman Shahbaz Nadeem was yet to open his account.
Opener Murali Vijay failed for the second time in the match as he was out for a duck off the bowling of Beuran Hendricks in the second over. He had scored just four in the first innings.
It will not be an easy task for the Indians, who have rested the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma, to score the remaining runs.
India A, who had won the first Test of the two-match series by an innings, struggled to get the wickets of South Africa A batsmen who batted without taking much risk in the 63 overs they faced in their second innings here.
Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem took three for 56 runs while off-spinner Parvez Rasool and pacer Ishwar Pandey got a wicket apiece.
The South Africans played sedately in their second innings.
Opener Dean Elgar was South Africa A’s top-scorer with a 156-ball 62 while skipper Justin Ontong contributed 35.
Earlier in the day, India A were all out for 201 to concede a sizeable 140-run first innings lead to the South Africans. (PTI)
