Sport - Cricket

Dinda bowls India ‘A’ to victory

— Photo: K. Pichumani

CLEANED UP: Greg Hay has no clue to this one from Ashok Dinda.

Chennai: Ashok Dinda extinguished the vestiges of New Zealand ‘A’ resistance an over after tea on Wednesday, sealing a 129-run win for India ‘A’ in the first of two four-day matches at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium. Sprinting in from the Pavilion end, Dinda first had Trent Boult edging to wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha — a slash played after backing away from the line — and then smacked Brent Arnel’s half-advanced front pad with movement in to complete five wickets in the innings.

Dinda’s first two wickets also came off successive deliveries, snarling in-dippers pitched on an old-fashioned good length. With lunch a couple of overs away, Greg Hay, who had put on 58 runs for the fourth wicket with James Marshall, was presented evidence of off stump’s conical end as his bat came down late, and Neil Broom was trapped lbw on the crease. Saha played a subtle role in the dismissals; he stood up to the stumps, ruling out the option of taking stance outside the crease.

A raucous appeal off the next ball was turned down. Nathan McCullum, struck on the backfoot shuffle, may have been a hat-trick victim in another dimension.

He fell soon after lunch, bat following uncertainly a ball outside off, prompted by the threat of inward movement.

Marshall, who had batted nearly three hours for 47, fell lbw missing a sweep off Amit Mishra. Until that moment, the sweep had fetched him a large chunk of his runs, often played through a cordon of two short legs and a leg slip off Mohnish Parmar, fetching him singles that ensured that he didn’t remain stuck on strike.

Earlier, the day began with overnight batsmen Peter Fulton and Aaron Redmond seemingly going for the target, attacking the seamers in a 68-run partnership. Mishra dismissed both of them in his second over of the day, reinforcing the magnitude of the target.

Redmond mistimed a lofted drive, and Jaydev Shah kept his eyes on the ball dropping from behind him as he turned and hared from mid-off to long-off. Four balls later, Fulton, who had crossed over, edged a leg-break to Saha.

The second match will begin on Friday.

The scores: India ‘A’ — 1st innings: 248.

New Zealand ‘A’ — 1st innings: 230.

India ‘A’ — 2nd innings: 336.

New Zealand ‘A’ – 2nd innings: A. Redmond c Shah b Mishra 37, B.J. Watling lbw b Parmar 6, P. Fulton c Saha b Mishra 39, G. Hay b Dinda 20, J. Marshall lbw b Mishra 47, N. Broom lbw b Dinda 0, N. McCullum c Saha b Dinda 3, R. Young (not out) 39, M. Mason c Kukreja b Parmar 10, T. Boult c Saha b Dinda 3, B. Arnel lbw b Dinda 0; Extras (b-2, lb-5, nb-11, w-3): 21; Total (in 81.4 overs): 225.

Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-90, 3-90, 4-148, 5-148, 6-154, 7-201, 8-215, 9-225.

India ‘A’ bowling: Dinda 18.4-4-60-5, Tyagi 11-1-39-0, Parmar 25-5-60-2, Mishra 25-4-55-3, Raina 2-1-4-0.

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