Brathwaite, Deonarine grind India on final day

It was supposed to be a match to test the comeback skills of the Indian seniors but it after four days, there was nothing minutely suggesting anything of that sorts. All through their India tour, the West Indies A have punched above their weight with disciplined and on occasions brilliant performances. If the visitors’ victory at Mysore in the first of the three four-day games was an eye opener, the second proved to be a dampener in the fact that there weren’t any positives coming out of it for the hosts. Having allowed the visitors to snatch a 47-run lead, a crestfallen India A just went through the motions on a dull wicket at the Jawaharlal Nehru National College of Engineering grounds even as the in-form Kraig Brathwaite helped himself to an unbeaten century as the match meandered to a draw. On the final day of the four-day encounter, Brathwaite, distinctly unlucky not to make the senior team which was announced on Friday, showed the Caribbean selectors what they missed with an unconquered 104 (247b, 15x4) while being involved in a big 134-run third wicket partnership with Narsingh Deonarine, who however, missed out on a deserving hundred by seven runs. For the record, West Indies A, resuming at 28/0 moved to 223/3 in the 67 overs of play with Brathwaite and Deonarine (93, 142b, 13x4, 2x6) thwarting the listless India A attack. Zaheer Khan, one of the three apart from Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, who was eyeing a good performance to boost his recall hopes, ended up with one wicket in each innings, definitely not a happy finish. Though Zaheer got rid of opener Kieran Powell early and left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt trapped Kirk Edwards leg before, the third wicket pair shut out the hosts’ hopes with a fruitful partnership lasting 44 overs before Deonarine, who along with Edwards finds a place in the senior squad, fell leg before to Bhatt after a breezy knock. Brathwaite, meanwhile, completed his ton off 223 deliveries with 15 hits to the ropes but Assad Fudadin left the Indians and their supporters tearing their hair in frustration with an agonising three off 48 balls before stumps were drawn.

Scoreboard West Indies A (1st innings): 406 India A (1st innings): 359 West Indies A (2nd innings, O/n 28/0): K. Brathwaite (not out) 104, K. Powell c Kaul b Zaheer 14, K. Edwards lbw Bhatt 2, N. Deonarine lbw Bhatt 93, A Fudadin (not out) 3, Extras (b2, lb3, w1, nb1) 7 Total (for 3 wckts; in 81 overs) 223 FoW: 1-34, 2-43, 3-187 Bowling: Zaheer K 13-4-27-1, Md Shami 8-4-25-0, P Rasool 27-10-39-0, B Bhatt 27-1-104-2, A Nayar 1-0-12-0, VA Jagadeesh 5-1-11-0