Miller 90 not enough in Townsville
South Africa A’s tough tour to Australia continued on Wednesday after they fell to a three-wicket loss to India A in their second match of the Quadrangular One-Day Series in Townsville.
An unbeaten century by captain Manish Pandey, who hit exactly 100 (105 balls, 9 fours, 1 six), and four wickets from Dhawal Kulkarni (4/37) set the Indians up for the win, their first of the competition.
The South Africans, beaten by 17 runs in their opening game against Australia’s National Performance Squad, were asked to bat first after captain Heino Kuhn lost the toss at the Tony Ireland Stadium.
Reeza Hendricks (0), the skipper Kuhn (10) and Dane Vilas (1) were all dismissed inside the first 12 overs with only 35 on the board. David Miller top-scored with 90 (104 balls, 5 fours, 2 sixes) to rescue South Africa, who also had a second successive half-century from Qaasim Adams to be grateful for after he hit 52 (55 balls, 5 fours). Theunis de Bruyn was the only other meaningful contributor with 40 as 230/8 was posted in 50 overs.
Jaydev Unadkat (2/42) and Hardik Pandya (2/55) were also amongst the wickets with two apiece.
South Africa managed to remove India’s top three – Faiz Fazal (19), Karun Nair (17) and Mandeep Singh (14) – inside 15 overs thanks to a pair of wickets for Andile Phehlukwayo (2/32) and one for Dwaine Pretorius (1/36).
Kedar Jadhav (26) helped put on 66 for the fourth wicket with Pandey to resurrect the chase and two other crucial stands then took the Asians to victory. Both involved the captain as he put on 51 with Pandya (18) and an unbroken 47 with Kulkarni (23) to take his side over the line with eight balls remaining.
India A are now off the mark with four points, with the NPS topping the log on eight, followed by Australia A on five. All three have played two matches each, with South Africa A yet to gain a point.
Their next assignment is against the Australian A team on Saturday.
The South Africans, beaten by 17 runs in their opening game against Australia’s National Performance Squad, were asked to bat first after captain Heino Kuhn lost the toss at the Tony Ireland Stadium.
Reeza Hendricks (0), the skipper Kuhn (10) and Dane Vilas (1) were all dismissed inside the first 12 overs with only 35 on the board. David Miller top-scored with 90 (104 balls, 5 fours, 2 sixes) to rescue South Africa, who also had a second successive half-century from Qaasim Adams to be grateful for after he hit 52 (55 balls, 5 fours). Theunis de Bruyn was the only other meaningful contributor with 40 as 230/8 was posted in 50 overs.
Jaydev Unadkat (2/42) and Hardik Pandya (2/55) were also amongst the wickets with two apiece.
South Africa managed to remove India’s top three – Faiz Fazal (19), Karun Nair (17) and Mandeep Singh (14) – inside 15 overs thanks to a pair of wickets for Andile Phehlukwayo (2/32) and one for Dwaine Pretorius (1/36).
Kedar Jadhav (26) helped put on 66 for the fourth wicket with Pandey to resurrect the chase and two other crucial stands then took the Asians to victory. Both involved the captain as he put on 51 with Pandya (18) and an unbroken 47 with Kulkarni (23) to take his side over the line with eight balls remaining.
India A are now off the mark with four points, with the NPS topping the log on eight, followed by Australia A on five. All three have played two matches each, with South Africa A yet to gain a point.
Their next assignment is against the Australian A team on Saturday.
(File Photo: Gallo Images)
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