India A vs South Africa A, 2nd Unofficial Test, Day 4, Review: Shreyas Iyer and Bawne score half-centuries in a tame draw

India A have managed to win the two-match series against South Africa A as the second game ended in a tame draw thanks to the constant rain interruptions. In the 56 overs which were played in the day, the skipper Shreyas Iyer and Ankit Bawne batted well by scoring half-centuries and just extended their team’s dominance in the series. Though the visitors gave a better account of themselves in this game both with the bat and ball.

The home side got off to a bad start in the second innings. Prithvi Shaw was castled by Duanne Olivier only in the third over and then pinned Hanuma Vihari in front of the stumps to leave them 14/2 with the new cherry moving around. Soon Mayank Agarwal also fell after playing a decent knock of 28 runs. But at 54/3, things looked ominous for them. But the duo of Iyer and Bawne got together and stitched a superb partnership of 86 runs.

Both of them scored half-centuries to stamp their authority on the last day of the series. Iyer was dismissed on 65 by Senuran Muthusamy and Bawne remained unbeaten until the end for 64. He was assisted well by Srikar Bharat (18) in an unbeaten 41-run stand after which the rain stopped the game and never started again. India A were 181/4 in 51 overs and their lead had extended up to 207 as the match ended in a draw.

India clean up the tail

Earlier in the morning, South Africa A resumed on 294/7 and it took only 6 overs for the Indian bowlers to skittle them. Mohammed Siraj continued his good job and scalped a couple while Ankit Rajpoot added one more to his kitty. Muthusamy dug in nicely and remained not out on 35 as he ran out of the partners. Eventually, the visitors could only post 319 runs on the board after being well placed at 233/3 at one stage.

Siraj took 4 wickets while Rajpoot supported him well with three scalps. Yuzvendra Chahal also bowled well and returned with the figures of 2/84. For the Proteas, Zubayr Hamza was the best batsman as he smashed 93 runs and Olivier ended the game with the impressive figures of 8/87.

Brief Scores

India A 345 after 101 overs (H Vihari 148, A Bawne 80; D Olivier 6/63) & 181/4 after 51 overs (S Iyer 65, A Bawne 64*; D Olivier 2/24)

South Africa A 319 after 98.2 overs (Z Hamza 93, S Erwee 58; M Siraj 4/72, A Rajpoot 3/54)

Result: Draw

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