Quadrangular Series 2018, India A vs South Africa A, Match 9, - Match Report

South Africa A won the last group match of the quadrangular series by four wickets against India A.

Both the teams will now fight it out for the 3^rd place playoffs. India B and Australia A will contest in the final of the tournament on 29^th August. However, the 3^rd place playoff will also be played on the same day. On Monday, India A needed a victory to harbour hopes of qualifying for the final of the tournament.

It was South Africa A skipper, Khaya Zondo who won the toss and put the hosts into bat. India started off horrendously and lost their first four wickets for just 31 runs. Robert Frylinck bagged the wicket of Suryakumar Yadav to start the slide for the hosts. Later, Abhimanyu Easwaran got dismissed by a brilliant delivery from Dane Paterson in the very next over.

The wickets of Shreyas Iyer and Ambati Rayudu also fell in quick succession, as the hosts got reduced to 31/4. After a 21-run partnership between Krunal Pandya and Nitish Rana, the former got dismissed with the score reading 52.

Nitish Rana also got dismissed without bothering the scorers much. From there on, it was a 64-run partnership between Sanju Samson and Deepak Chahar which got them up to 140.

Quadrangular series: India A staged a comeback with the ball after a mediocre batting performance 

Eventually, the hosts were skittled out for 157 in the 38^th over. It was a pretty low target for the Proteas to chase and they started off solidly. The openers Gihahn Cloete and Pieter Malan shared a 37-run partnership in eight overs to get the Proteas underway. Malan scored a fluent 47 which helped South Africa near the victory target.

Khaleel Ahmed was impressive with his skiddy left-arm pace. He bagged three wickets in seven overs but went onto conceded 45 runs. South Africa A eventually reached the target in the 38^th over to win the match by four wickets. However, their victory didn’t do any difference to the points table. India B will now face Australia A in the final of the tournament.

Brief Scores

India A 157 all-out in 37.3 overs (Deepak Chahar 38, Sanju Samson 36, Dane Paterson 5/19)

South Africa A 159/6 in 37.4 overs (Pieter Malan 47, Khaleel Ahmed 3/45)

South Africa A won by four wickets (with 74 deliveries to spare)