K.L. Rahul and Naman Ojha struck contrasting fifties to guide Board President’s XI to 296 in the two-day warm-up game against the South Africans at Brabourne stadium here on Friday. At stumps, South Africa were 46/2.
Rahul (72) applied himself well as he waited for the pitch to dry up before earning the bulk of his runs through boundaries, while Ojha (52) looked fluent, especially against the spinners.
Karun Nair (44) and Hardik Pandya (47) also made handy contributions. South African fast bowlers Dale Steyn (3/46) and Vernon Philander (2/37) picked five wickets between them while bowling in three spells. Simon Harmer (3/41) chipped in with three wickets as the hosts fell short of the 300-run mark.
Opener Unmukt Chand, Cheteshwar Pujara and Shreyas Iyer were dismissed cheaply as BPXI were in a spot of bother at 27/3 in 8.3 overs. Steyn picked up two wickets in his first spell that lasted five overs while Philander dismissed Pujara by having him caught in the slips by Stiaan van Zyl.
Karnataka duo of Rahul and Karun came to the hosts’ rescue. After playing fast bowlers cautiously, they looked comfortable against the spinners. Rahul brought his fifty in 92 balls, hitting ten boundaries. At lunch, BP XI were comfortably placed at 100/3.
Karun who continued to struggle against Philander eventually edged one to wicketkeeper Dane Vilas. The fourth wicket partnership had yielded 105 runs in 150 balls. Rahul too found the going tough as he offered three chances in the 60s before digging his own grave with a slog sweep. Simon Harmer accounted for Rahul.
Ojha and Sheldon Jackson put up a 53-run stand for the sixth wicket. After reaching his half-century, Ojha was dismissed by Steyn. Morne Morkel who along with JP Duminy missed the last two ODIs bowled five overs without conceding a run in the first two sessions.
Scoreboard Indian Board President’s XI (1st innings): U. Chand c Amla b Steyn 4, K.L. Rahul c du Plessis b Harmer 72, C. Pujara c van Zyl b Philander 5, S. Iyer c Vilas b Steyn 9, K. Nair c Vilas b Philander 44, N. Ojha c Amla b Steyn 52, S. Jackson c Steyn b Tahir 15, H. Pandya c Vilas b Harmer 47, J. Yadav c van Zyl b Harmer 22, K. Sharma (not out) 7, S. Thakur c Amla b Piedt 6. Extras: (b6, lb5, nb2) 13. Total: (in 78.5 overs) 296. FoW: 1-4, 2-13, 3-27, 4-132, 5-155, 6-208, 7-226, 8-280, 9-283. Bowling: Steyn 13-2-46-3, Philander 12-3-37-2, Morkel 5-5-0-0, Rabada 8-1-35-0, van Zyl 5-2-11-0, Harmer 11-0-41-3, Piedt 15.5-1-88-1, Tahir 6-2-16-1, Elgar 3-0-11-0. South Africans (1st innings): S. van Zyl c Chand b Thakur 18, D. Elgar (batting) 18, S. Harmer c Ojha b Thakur 4. Extras: (b4, nb2) 6. Total (for 2 wkts, in 8.2 overs) 46. FoW: 1-38, 2-46. Bowling: Thakur 4.2-0-28-2, Singh 3-1-0-0, Pandya 1-0-4-0.
