SERIES FINAL

Mandeep, Chahal power India A to quadrangular series title victory

by Cricbuzz Staff • Published on

(File photo) Opening the batting for India A, Mandeep Singh scored 95 © Cricbuzz

India A skipper Manish Pandey sprung a surprise by opting to bat first against Australia A in the quadrangular A-team One-Day Series final at the Ray Mitchell Oval, Harrup Park in Mackay on Sunday (September 4) despite the chasing team winning four out of the last five games at this venue. India A had fallen short by just one run while chasing 322 against the same opposition a few days ago. Yet, Pandey's decision was vindicated as his players put in a superb all-round display to win by 57 runs and clinch the title.

Chasing 267, the hosts were choked by spinners Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel and part-timer Karun Nair. The trio managed to pick eight wickets amongst themselves, and gave away just 95 runs in 22.5 overs. Leg spinner Chahal cleaned up the tail and finished with a four-wicket haul.

The chase began in decent fashion for Australia A as openers Cameron Bancroft and Kurtis Patterson put on 30 in the first six overs before Dhawal Kulkarni disturbed the latter's furniture. Bancroft was the next to depart as Nair bowled him for 34 after the wicketkeeper batsman had raised a fifty-run stand with Nic Maddinson. Nair struck again in his fourth over to get rid of the well set left-hander for 31. Maddinson was clearly shocked by the umpire's verdict after appearing to suggest he hadn't nicked the ball to the keeper.

At the halfway mark, Australia A had a huge task in their hands as they had just 93 on the board. Skipper Peter Handscomb and Alex Ross then took charge to hit 72 off the next ten overs to revive the chase.

As the momentum started to shift in favour of the hosts, Pandey decided to bring his strike bowler Kulkarni back into the attack. The seamer responded with a timely strike to get rid of the dangerous Ross for 34. Two overs later, Axar inflicted a huge blow by sending Handscomb back to the pavilion for 43.

With 79 needed off the final ten overs, the big-hitting Marcus Stoinis was Australia's only hope. Chahal though, got rid of the dangerous all-rounder and Kane Richardson in the same over to stamp India's authority. It was a formality in the end as the hosts added just 20 more runs before folding for 209 in the 45th over.

Earlier in the day, Australia A made a bright start to the the game by dismissing Nair for 1. The Karnataka batsman failed to make a statement in the series by scoring just a solitary half-century in six innings following his recent ODI debut in Zimbabwe.

Shreyas Iyer and Mandeep Singh then stitched a useful partnership and ensured there were no more wickets in the first powerplay. Iyer curbed his usual aggressive approach and made a sedate 41 before being caught behind, off Stoinis.

With the run rate hovering just above four, Mandeep kept the scoreboard ticking with Pandey settling in at the other end. The opener brought up his half-century off 63 balls, helping India reach the three-figure mark by the end of 24 overs.

Mandeep then started finding the boundary at regular intervals and raced into the nineties while Pandey continued to bide his time. An excellent innings was then brought to an end by Joe Mennie as the opener was caught behind five short of his century. The wicket maiden pegged India back at a crucial juncture as Kedar Jadhav joined his skipper out in the middle to provide the impetus with 13 overs remaining in the innings.

Pandey then took charge and hit a couple of boundaries in the space of three deliveries. At 190 for 3 in 40 overs with the likes of Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson and Axar yet to bat, India would have loved to have added at least 90 in the final ten but had to be content with 76 as they finished with 266 on the board. The Australians didn't concede many boundaries at the death as Pandey failed to improve his tally of fours, falling for a 71-ball 61. Axar's late-order surge took India A past the 260-run mark.

Mandeep was named the player of the match for his 95 while Sam Heazlett from Australia's National Performance Squad was named player of the series for an aggregate 289 runs.

Brief scores: India A 266/4 in 50 overs (Mandeep Singh 95, Manish Pandey 61; Marcus Stoinis 1-30) beat Australia A 209 in 44.5 overs (Peter Handscomb 43; Yuzvendra Chahal 4-34, Dhawal Kulkarni 2-22) by 57 runs.

© Cricbuzz

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