SA A v IND A, 2nd unofficial Test, Day 1 Review: India come back strong after Stephen Cook's 98

India A made a decent return on the first day of the 2nd unofficial Test after a huge stand for the opening wicket by South Africa A at Potchefstroom. South Africa A’s openers got off to a great start by putting on a 167-run stand before the India A spinners picked up 5 wickets in the space of 40 runs. The home side recovered towards the end of the day to finish at 258/5.

The Proteas’ A side won the toss and elected to bat first for the 2nd consecutive game. Openers Stephen Cook and Aiden Markram tested the patience of the Indian pacers Ankit Rajpoot and Navdeep Saini scoring 14 runs in the first ten overs. The pair played out till the Lunch interval scoring 70 runs without losing a wicket.

Post the Lunch break, both the players scored runs at a good rate bringing up their fifties in a quick succession. Captain Markram completed his fifty in 92 balls while Cook brought up his milestone after batting 122 deliveries. The breakthrough for India finally came in the 55th over bowled by Krishnappa Gowtham as Markram got out scoring 74 off 145 balls with six fours and a six. Cook looked set for his 2nd century in as many games before he fell short by only two runs as he got out to Shahbaz Nadeem. Cook scored 98 off 205 balls with nine fours and a six.

India A capitalized the chance to pick some quick wickets after the dismissal of the set batsmen. Gowtham cleaned up David Miller for just 13 runs while Jason Smith was trapped in front for just four by Navdeep Saini. Heinrich Klaasen too didn’t last long as he was bowled for just seven by Nadeem. But Omphile Ramela and Andile Phehlukwayo ensured South Africa A didn’t fall further. The pair put on an unbeaten 51-run stand for the 6th wicket batting out for 17.2 overs. Ramela stayed on 39 off 104 balls while Phehlukwayo scored 15 off 46.

Brief Scores:

South Africa A first innings: 258/5 in 91 overs (Stephen Cook 98, Aiden Markram 74; Krishnappa Gowtham 2/67, Shahbaz Nadeem 2/101)