Vijayawada: Spinners Karn Sharma and Shahbaz Nadeem wreaked havoc as India A thrashed New Zealand A by an innings and 26 runs to win the two-match unofficial ‘Test’ series 2-0, here Tuesday.
After scoring 211 in their first innings, the visitors managed only 210 in their second essay, courtesy another batting collapse despite starting the final day at 104 for one. India A had scored 447 in their only innings.
Leg-spinner Karn (5/78) and left-arm spinner Nadeem (4/41) ran through the opposition line-up as they added only 106 runs losing nine wickets in the process. Pacer Shardul Thakur took the other Kiwi wicket to haul.
Karn finished the match with eight wickets and ended the series with 16 wickets having scalped eight Kiwi batsmen in the first game also. Nadeem was also not far behind as he picked up 14 wickets in the series.
Henry Nicholls (94, 190b, 11×4, 1×6) played a lone hand, which incidentally wasn’t enough as none of the other batsmen were able to support him. Save the second wicket stand of 105 runs between Jeet Raval and Nicholls, there wasn’t a single partnership of more than 30 runs in the Kiwi second innings.
New Zealand A were completely outclassed in the series having lost the first ‘Test’ by an innings and 31 runs. The batsmen simply didn’t have any clue how to negotiate Karn-Nadeem duo. It certainly is a bad sign as seven from the current side will join the senior team when they tour India for the ODI series.
Brief Scores: New Zealand A 211 and 210 (Henry Nicholls 94; Karn Sharma 5/78, Shahbaz Nadeem 4/41) lost to India A 447 by an innings and 26 runs.
Press Trust of India
