Day Four
A defiant 94 from captain Henry Nicholls and 47 from opener Jeet Raval wasn't enough to save New Zealand A from an innings and 26 run defeat to India A on the final day in Vijayawada.
The BLACKCAPS test pair resumed day four at 104-1 and with high hopes of knocking off the 132 run deficit and building a lead.
Nicholls and Raval started positively, posting their 100 run partnership inside the first hour, before Raval fell LBW to left arm orthodox spinner Shahbaz Nadeem.
Nicholls would push on into the 90s while wickets tumbled at the other end.
The New Zealand A captain eventually fell after lunch for 94 off 190 balls, a knock which included 11 fours and a six.
Once Nicholls departed the end was swift as Nadeem and leg spinner Vinod Sharma claimed nine wickets for the innings between them.
With the two First Class matches now complete, the tour shifts to Visakhapatnam for a five game One Day series starting October 6th.
Day Three
Six wickets and an unbeaten 85 run stand from Henry Nicholls and Jeet Raval has given the visitors hope on day three of their First-Class match against India A.
India resumed day three in Vijayawada at 360-4 and looked odds on for a first-innings lead of over 300.
A joint effort from the New Zealand bowling attack would grind the hosts to a halt though, with Ish Sodhi (3-120), Scott Kuggeleijn (2-82) and Seth Rance (2-28) dismissing India for 447 and a lead of 236.
While the bowlers got a deserved ice bath after over eight hours in the field in Indian heat, the New Zealand top-order set about a difficult task of keeping out the home side’s bowling attack.
While George Worker fell lbw for six early on, Nicholls (55*) and Raval (41*) put together the visitors’ best partnership of the tour to date, taking New Zealand to 104-1.
Raval spent 40 overs in the middle and will continue alongside skipper Nicholls tomorrow, with their side trailing by 132 runs. Both will be eager to extend their stay and secure what looked like an unlikely draw at the end of day two.
Scoring updates available on www.cricinfo.com.
Day two
India A are on track to build an imposing lead following a dominant display with the bat on day two of their second First Class match.
New Zealand A posted 211 and had the hosts 34-1 heading into day two, after Seth Rance picked up a wicket just before stumps.
India’s batting line-up flexed its muscle in Vijayawada on Sunday, with a string of impressive partnerships.
Shreyas Iyer took the attack to New Zealand from the start of play, making an entertaining 82 from 79 balls.
Ish Sodhi eventually got the break through when he dismissed Iyer, while Scott Kuggeleijn got rid of Priyank Panchal not long after, reducing India to 142-3.
Sodhi doubled his wicket tally when he had opposition captain Karun Nair caught and bowled, but at 204-4, India were still in a strong position to build a lead.
Ankit Bawne (116*) and Parthiv Patel (56*) took full advantage of that position, putting on an unbeaten 154 run stand to take their side to 360-4.
New Zealand A will be desperate for quick wickets on day three, while a stubborn effort with the bat will be required following.
Day One
Colin Munro top-scored for New Zealand A on day one of their second First Class match against India A in Vijayawada.
After suffering a heavy defeat in the opening match last week, the visitors were buoyed by winning the toss and electing to bat first.
Despite a stubborn 48 from opener from Jeet Raval, India were able to pick up frequent wickets and had New Zealand in early trouble at 3-34.
That brought together Raval and Munro, who put on the biggest partnership of the inning with an 82 run stand. Munro took an aggressive approach on his way to 65, hitting two sixes and eight furs in his 82 ball stay at the crease.
Unfortunately both established batsmen would fail to kick on and India threatened to keep New Zealand under 200.
A stubborn and unbeaten 44 from Tim Seifert took them beyond that, but he would run out of partners after 69.5 overs, as the tourists were dismissed for 211.
New Zealand had nine overs to make some headway into the India batting line-up and just four balls in Seth Rance found success, trapping Ravikumar Samarth lbw for a duck.
India will resume day two at 33-1.
