Rajkot: Ruturaj Gaikwad struck a composed 117 from 129 deliveries to guide India A to a comfortable four-wicket victory over South Africa A while chasing 286 runs in Thursday’s first unofficial ODI.
Out of the Indian team from both ODI and T20 format, Gaikwad anchored the run chase with his solid effort. South Africa A had done remarkably well to post 285/9 after losing half their side for 53 in the 12th over.
Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh, who is trying to establish himself in the ODI setup, got rid of openers Rubin Hermann and Rivaldo Moonsamy to give India A a perfect start.
Prasidh Krishna removed South Africa A captain Marques Ackerman to cause more pain to the opposition.
However, the lower-order put up a brave fight for South Africa A with Dian Forrester (77), Delano Potgieter (90) and Bjorn Fortuin (59) producing much needed rearguard action.
In response, Gaikwad and T20 sensation Abhishek Sharma (31 off 25) shared 64 runs for the opening wicket. Riyan Parag (8) and captain Tilak Varma (39) could not make much of an impact before Nitish Kumar Reddy (37 off 26) and Nishant Sindhu (29 not out off 26) got the job done in the 49.3 overs.
India A lost Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan in quick succession but Reddy and Sindhu insured there were no further hiccups.
Reddy was released from the India Test squad Wednesday to take part in the A series.
