Manprit Juneja misses out on 200,unofficial 8216;Test8217; ends in a draw

Manprit Juneja missed out on a well-deserved double hundred by only seven runs.

Manprit Juneja missed out on a well-deserved double hundred by only seven runs while New Zealand top-order got some much needed batting practise against India A bowlers as the second unofficial 8216;Test8217; between the two sides predictably ended in a draw. Also Read: Juneja serves up an ace

In reply to New Zealand A8217;s first innings score of 437,Indians finished their first innings seven runs short at 430. In the second innings,the Kiwis finished at 176 for three in 51.2 overs as the umpires decided to call off the match after taking consent of the two skippers. Also Read: Would love a potent in-swinger to complement stock-ball,says Dhawal Kulkarni

In all 62.5 overs of play was held on the final day.

The honours were shared as both the Test matches failed to yield any positive outcome for either of the two teams.

The only interest in final day8217;s play was whether young Juneja 193,362 balls,20215;4,1215;6 would get to score his second first-class double hundred but seamer Mark Gillespie 4/80 from 29.3 overs dismissed him caught by Corey Anderson.

Resuming the day at 408 for seven,India added 22 more runs with Juneja scoring 15 off them.

But Gillespie used his slower delivery to good effect as Dhawal Kulkarni 10 was caught and bowled. Juneja was the next man out,while Imtiaz Ahmed was also castled by him as he finished with four wickets in the match.

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With a result out of question,New Zealand A skipper Tom Latham 61,100b,7215;4 put his head down to get some runs,which will help his confidence before the start of the List A series.

After Neil Broom 0 was trapped leg before by Kulkarni,Latham in company of Carl Cachopa 76,139 balls,13215;4 added 128 runs for the second wicket and the contest was as good as over. Left-arm spinner Rakesh Dhurv 2/45 removed the two set batsmen in successive overs but it was too late in the day. Also Read: Zol8217;s first-class graduation

The two 8216;Test8217; series had some positives for the Indian team as far as their batting reserves are concerned. Young India U-19 skipper Vijay Zol announced his arrival in the first-class arena with a century,Manprit Juneja showed why he is rated so highly in the domestic circuit when it comes to days8217; cricket.

Kerala opener Vasudevan Jagadeesh also showed glimpses of his talent with a gritty knock. Also Read: Star of U-19 World Cup,Unmukt Chand struggles to step up

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The biggest disappointment was Delhi8217;s Unmukt Chand who failed to even reach double figures in the two 8216;Tests8217;. Unmukt also had an ordinary ACC Emerging Trophy campaign in Singapore where he scored only against Pakistan and Nepal.

His sequence of scores in the last five games List A and

first-class reads: 10,0,15,4,4.

One can only hope that Unmukt scores a few runs in the upcoming List A One day series where he has been entrusted with the responsibility of leading the side.