Gambhir-Dhoni back in lead as Pakistan A are crushed

Opener Gautam Gambhir and wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni yet again weaved a match winning partnership as India ‘A’ coasted to an eight-wicket win over Pakistan ‘A’ in the triangular series league encounter here today. Dhoni (119 not out) and Gambhir (79), who had scored big hundreds during the 121-run victory over the archrivals in the previous clash, put together 169 runs for the second wicket as Indians overhauled the Pakistani target of 235 runs with five overs to spare.

India ‘A’ have already been ensured a berth in the final after winning all the league matches after their suprise loss to Kenya in the opening tie. On the other hand Pakistan ‘A’ have just one win under their belt from five outings and face a do-or-die match against hosts Kenya who have two wins from as many matches. The Indians did not have a great start as they lost opener Dhiraj Jadhav with just eight runs on the board. Dhoni and Gambhir then played cautiously and ensured that there were no more hiccups before opening out in the later part of the innings. Both batsmen were lucky as they were given a ‘life’ each by Pakistan ‘A’ skipper Misabah-ul-Haq and Naveed Qureshi respectively.

Earlier, Pakistan ‘A’ were bowled out for 234 runs in 46.2 overs as the Indian bowlers scalped the last seven wickets for just 37 runs. Medium pacer Shib Shankar Paul and skipper Sairaj Bahutule took seven wickets between them to peg back the Pakistani innings which was cruising along at 197-2 after the 39th over.

Story continues below this ad

Pakistan made a disastrous start losing two wickets for just eight runs, but a brilliant 189-run stand between skipper Misbah-ul-Haq (106) and Bazid Khan (87) not only restructured the innings but laid the foundation for a big score.

Brief scores

Pakistan A:

234 in 46.2 overs (B Khan 87, Misbah-ul Haq 106; S Bahutule 4-38, S S Paul 3-44) lost to India A: 236-2 in 45 overs (M S Dhoni 119 not out, G Gambhir 79)