India A in Australia: Robin Uthappa's men register 5th consecutive win

Manoj Tiwary

In the Quadrangular A Team ODI tournament that is reaching its closing stages in Australia, India registered their fifth straight win on the trot, against Australia A, on Thursday. The loss ended Australia A’s five match unbeaten run that started in the first match of the tournament against the same opponents. Chasing 229 for win, India reached home with 5-wickets to spare.

Ambati Rayudu(77) and Kedar Jadhav(52) stitched together a 101-run partnership after India A lost three wickets early in the chase. Rayudu batted cautiously for his half-century, while Jadhav continued to be the aggressor. The Maharashtra batsman struck two sixes and three boundaries in his knock, which was eventually ended by Cameron White.

Sanju Samson joined Rayudu and continued from where Jadhav left; the duo added 52 off 59 balls that set India on course for the win. Parvez Rasool contributed 20 off 16 to guarantee a victory. The Kerala wicketkeeper-batsman finished on an unbeaten 49 from 51 balls.

Earlier in the day, White won the toss and decided to bat first at the Marrara Oval, Darwin. Opener Marcus Stoinis batted briskly for his 58, before falling to Akshar Patel. The breakthrough opened the gates for Manoj Tiwary who bagged his maiden five-wicket haul of his career by getting rid of the next five batsmen.

Peter Nevill (23) got stumped by Samson, while the captain did not last long. Phil Hughes, who scored the incredible record-breaking double century in his last outing, became the second batsman to be stumped off Tiwary’s leg-spin in the match, for 58.

Akshar Patel was extremely effective, bowling economically and also picking up important wickets. The left-arm spinner cleared off the tail that sneaked in some quick runs towards the end of the innings. Australia were eventually bowled out with 228 on board in the final over of the innings.

Indian skipper Robin Uthappa failed once again with the bat and is without a single half-century in this entire tour. In the end, it turned out to be a convincing victory for the visitors. The two sides will meet again in the finals on Saturday.