Vijaywada: Leg-spinner Karn Sharma (4/62) and left-arm tweaker Shahbaz Nadeem (4/51) shared eight wickets between them as India A cantered to an innings and 31-run victory against New Zealand A in the first unofficial ‘Test’ here Monday.
The New Zealand side’s inability to play spin bowling again came to the fore as they were dismissed for 142 in their second innings after being bundled out for 147 in their first essay. India scored 320 runs in their only innings. The other two wickets were picked up by pacer Shardul Thakur (2/17).
Karn thus finished the match with figures of eight for 120 while Nadeem had better figures with a game haul of eight for 79.
The Kiwis started their day at 64 for two and could resist only for just over 31 overs as they folded out in only 63.1 overs.
Openers George Worker (35) and Jeet Raval (21) were the only two batsmen, who had individual scores of 20 plus in the second innings.
In fact, such was been the plight of New Zealand batsmen in the two days and one session of cricket, none of them got a half century in the two innings. They looked completely at sea while tackling the turning ball.
The next Test will also be played at the same venue, September 30 to October 3.
Brief scores: New Zealand A 147 and 142 (George Worker 35, Karn Sharma 4/62, Shahbaz Nadeem 4/51 lost to India A 320 by an innings and 31 runs.
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