Kanitkar ton spurs India A

CHENNAI, DEC 5: Save for Hrishikesh Kanitkar's century, the proceedings on the second day of the second Test' match between India A and ...

CHENNAI, DEC 5: Save for Hrishikesh Kanitkar’s century, the proceedings on the second day of the second Test’ match between India A and West Indies A at the M A Chidambaram Stadium here on Saturday were of little significance.West Zone skipper Kanitkar, who resumed at 73 today, went on to score 143 (336b, 1×6, 10×4) to take India A to 297 for nine declared. The visitors, already one up in the two Test’ series, ended the day at 79 for two.

The morning session did not turn the way, coach Srikkanth would have liked. Resuming at 162 for five, Kanitkar and MSK Prasad, who was 25 overnight, continued to plod instead of going for their shots. The two went to lunch unbeaten, but by the interval, they have scored a meagre 51 runs in 28 overs. Surely, this was not the approach expected from a side, needing a victory to level the series.

However, they began to accelerate after lunch and hit 54 in 10 overs before Prasad lost his wicket amidst some drama. Kanitkar hit left-arm spinner Neil McGarell to short fineleg where Sherwin Campbell floored a sitter, however, Campbell made up for his mistake. Realising the batsmen were taking a run, he fired the ball to wicketkeeper Courtney Browne, who whipped off the bails before Prasad could make his ground. The Andhra lad made 61 (322m, 234b, 1×4). He and Kanitkar added 175 for the sixth wicket off 78 overs.

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In trying to step up the pace, Nikhil Chopra and Dodda Ganesh followed Prasad to the pavilion soon. Finally, Kanitkar’s long vigil of 518 minutes came to an end when he played on to a ball from McGarell.

Obaid Kamal (17 n.o., 17b) hoisted two consecutive sixes off McGarell over mid-wicket and this brought some applause from the small crowd before Kanitkar declared 16 minutes before tea.

India discard Dodda Ganesh gave the home team the initiative by scalping Adrian Griffith (2) in the very first over caught by Wasim Jaffer at gully.India A team for One-Dayers:

Team: Hrishikesh Kanitkar (capt), S Ramesh, Debang Gandhi,Nikhil Chopra, Rahul Sanghvi, DoddaGanesh, Saba Karim, Amay Khurasia, JP Yadav, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Amit Bhandari, Gyanendra Pandey, Rohan Gavaskar and Venka Pratap.

Coach-cum-manager: Krishnamachari Srikkanth.

Scoreboard

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India A:Wasim Jaffer (run out) 0, Sadagopan Ramesh b Chris Gayle 22, Amay Khurasia c Courtney Browne b Carl Tuckett 17, Hrishikesh Kanitkar 143, Rohan Gavaskar c McGarell b Bishop 11, Sanjay Raul c Hinds b McGarell 7, MSK Prasad (run out) 61, Nikhil Chopra lbw Bishop 0, Dodda Ganesh b McGarell 7, Obaid Kamal (not out) 17, Rahul Sanghvi (not out) 0. Extras (b-1, lb-5, nb-6) 12 TOTAL: (for 9 wkts, 129 overs) 297.

Fall of wickets:1-2, 2-26, 3-50, 4-66, 5-92, 6-267, 7-268, 8-274, 9-297.

Bowling:Pedro Collins 19-3-50-0, Ian Bishop 34-12-54-2, Carl Tuckett 19-12-13-1, Chris Gayle 28-6-80-1, Neil McGarell 26-3-77-3, Wavel Hinds 2-0-16-0, Ramnaresh Sarwan 1-0-11-0.

West Indies A (1st innings):Adrian Griffith c Wasim Jaffer b Ganesh 2, Sherwin Campbell (batting) 37, Wavel Hinds c Wasim Jaffer b Nikhil Chopra 26,Chris Gayle (batting) 7, Extras (lb-2 nb-5) 7. Total (for two wickets, 43 overs) 79.

Fall of wickets:1-2, 2-68.

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Bowling:D Ganesh 7-2-12-1, Obaid Kamal 7-3-12-0, Rahul Sanghvi 9-3-32-0, Nikhil Chopra 13-4-14-1, H Kanitkar 7-3-7-0.