Kartik, Mishra rescue India A

On a day when the mainline India A batsmen failed, the task of redeeming themselves on the opening day of the second Test at the Goodyear Park fell on two mainline spinenrs — M Kartik and Amit Mishra. Kartik and Mishra, coming together at a precarious 209 for eight, first put the spoke in the wheels of South Africans — especially the first-change bowler D Pretorius (4 for 47) — by steadying the sinking ship and then added invaluable 75 runs to remain unseparated.

India A were soon in trouble with the exception of opener Amit Pagnis (47) and Yuvraj Singh (54) until Kartik and Mishra repaired the damage.

SCOREBOARD

India A (1st innings): G Gambhir lbw b Terbrugge 2, A Pagnis c Van Jaarsveld b Nel 47, M Kaif lbw b Pretorius 15, J Martin c Ackerman b Pretorius 6, Yuvraj Singh c Thomas b Peterson 54, A Kale lbw b Pretorius 12, P Patel c Amla b Pretorius 2, L Balaji c Ackerman b Thomas 37, M Kartik batting 57, A Mishra batting 29, Extras: (b-4, lb-8, w-2, nb-9) 23. Total: (For 8 wkts) 284

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Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-41, 3-52, 4-113, 5-133, 6-135, 7-162, 8-209.

Bowling: Nel 17-5-42-1, Terbrugge 14-1-74-1, Pretorius 17-2-47-4, Thomas 14-2-45-1, Peterson 16-1-59-1, Amla 2-0-5-0