Junior Dala picked up five wickets in the second innings against India A in the unofficial Test. (Source: Cricket South Africa)
India A came into the fourth and final day of their first unofficial Test against South Africa A in Pretoria with their backs against the wall. The visitors were 192/6 and chasing a massive target of 447 runs. The equation firmly hinged in South Africa A’s favour with India A needing 255 runs more and the home side needing four wickets with the Karun Nair-captained side once again collapsing to a heap. The race to the finish line was completed in just 25 overs as Junior Dala picked up four quick wickets to finish with a fifer and give South Africa A a 235 run win. The seamer needed just 10.1 overs to pick up 5/36 as India A batting once again disintegrated.
South Africa A opening batsman Stephen Cook was named the Man of the Match for 120 run knock in the first innings that helped set up the win for the hosts. He added 32 runs to his tally in the second innings.
“We made it our mission to start the series off with a win, that was the big focus for the team and personal accolades should come after that,” Cook said to Cricket South Africa. “Obviously to contribute and to get some runs in a winning cause is always good and it’s always good to get the series off to a winning start.”
“We know that the A side and even the Proteas’ time in England didn’t go too well, so it’s good to start our home summer on the front foot so we can build on to this momentum.”
“We had a good team performance all the way around,” he continued. “I may have gotten the man of the match award but there were a number of performances that contributed. Junior Dala this morning bowled with good pace and got the ball to reverse swing a bit and did what fast bowlers should do, which is to wrap up the tail, credit to him and credit to everyone. I mean, someone like Dane Piedt who maybe didn’t get the wickets in the second innings, put some good pressure and bowled well into the rough.”
India A had lost Ankit Bawne just before stumps on the third day and the tail couldn’t hold much resistance on the fourth day. Shahbaz Nadeem fell for 28 runs in the first dismissal of the day. Aniket Choudhary and Mohammed Siraj followed soon thereafter. India A were already without the retired Vijay Shankar.
The second and last unofficial Test in the series begins on August 19 in Potchefstroom, Pretoria.
BRIEF SCORES: South Africa A: 346 & 220 defeat India A: 120 & 211 (Ankit Bawne 46, Ishan Kishan 39; Junior Dala 5/36) by 235 runs.
