Play abandoned, India A win series 1-0

But for the South Africans, the game ended long ago, when it became inevitable that this game was going to end in a draw. Now their focus shifts to the one-dayers.

South Africa A coach Barney Mohammed8217;s face seemed calm; the defeat didn8217;t really dampen his players8217; spirits. They all know that they now go into the one-dayers more experienced. 8220;We played really good in this match and started off strong. It is sad that we weren8217;t able to finish the match, but I think that it was a major improvement from how we played in Delhi,8221; said Barney.

The coach said that in many cases the touring sides always take a lot of time to adjust to the pitches and the conditions, and his team faced that in the first match but they settled in quickly.

8220;We had a tough time with the spinners in the first match, so we came up a new strategy in this and it worked out really well even if we did play only one day.8221; He agreed that the inclusion of some players from the Twenty20 squad would give them an extra boost. Albie Morkel, especially, was brutal on the bowlers and along with medium pacer Johan van der Wath would be someone that the Indians should worry about.

8220;We have always had a good one-day record in India and I think the new guys are really going to benefit from the experience,8221; Barney added. Proteas skipper Boeta Dippenaar also agreed that the one-day team is much more experienced and it8217;s that which will give them an edge over India.

India A coach Paras Mhambrey seems unperturbed by the change in the South African camp. He may have a team with lesser familiarity of the shorter format of the game, but the former Bengal coach says it is not an issue. 8220;The boys have great adaptability and I feel that they will easily acclimatise themselves to the one-days. We had a good series and they played really well, especially the bowlers,8221; said Mhambrey.

The home team would be bolstered with the inclusion of Mumbai pacer Abhishek Nayar.

One person who would miss out a chance to go into the middle is last match8217;s double centurion S Badrinath. He tried to get some net practice before he left but the rains had even spoilt practice pitches. 8220;I was looking to continue on my good form and this time they had a good attack, that would have given me the opportunity to face some class attack,8221; said Badrinath.

India have the psychological edge with the series victory, but it will take a lot of guts to tackle a much stronger South Africa A side.