CHRISTCHURCH: Skipper Dhruv Jurel made a solid unbeaten 99 after Devdutt Padikkal's breezy 80 as India A recovered well to score a strong 291 for seven against New Zealand A on the opening day of the four-day match here on Saturday.
Jurel (99 batting, 155b) and Akash Deep (25 batting) were at the crease at close. The eighth-wicket pair has so far added 69 runs in 18.4 overs to keep the visitors afloat. At lunch, India were comfortably placed at 87 for one despite the early dismissal of Yashasvi Jaiswal, who trapped leg before by pacer Fraser Sheat in the fourth ball of the first over.
But India lost Sai Sudharsan (41) in the first over after lunch as the left-hander punched an away going delivery from pacer Jarrod McKay to get caught by stumper Mitchell Hay. But Padikkal continued unfazed, bringing up a sturdy fifty in 101 balls with a boundary through the point off McKay.
India were 131 for two at this stage, but the Kiwis rattled them with three wickets in the span of seven runs. First to depart was Yash Rathod (13). The left-hander feathered a lovely out-swinger from pacer Brett Randell to stumper Hay, and Padikkal followed him soon.
The left-hander's attempted cut off Sheat took a deflection off his bat to disturb the stumps. In the very next ball, R Smaran offered a no-shot to a delivery that came in a wee bit to ping his pads. The umpire agreed to Sheat's shout for a leg-before wicket as Smaran trudged off the field. Washington Sundar too did not last long, getting trapped in front by Sheat, who was the most successful home bowler. ut Jurel found a willing ally in Manav Suthar (22) as the seventh wicket duo milked 62 runs to keep the home bowlers at bay.
Brief scores: India A 291/7 in 88 ovs (Jurel 99, Padikkal 80; Fraser Sheat 4/5) vs NZ A.
