By Admin 
After three days of pulsating action and more than two sessions of simmering tension, the India-A – South Africa-A contest at the BCCI Centre of Excellence near here delivered a blockbuster finish as the visitors chased down 417 near-improbable runs with five wickets to spare.
On a day of glorious uninterrupted sunshine, all South Africa-A batters thrived, chipping off the target bit by bit before racing home with three overs to spare. India-A skipper Rishabh Pant was off the field for nearly two sessions and by the time he returned, the result was seldom in question.
From an overnight 25 for no loss, openers Jordan Hermann (91, 123b, 13×4, 1×6) and Lesego Senokwane (77, 174b, 11×4) batted out the first session, adding 114 runs in 27 overs. The post-lunch period witnessed 80 runs from 24 overs before a whopping 198 came in the last session from 36.
When the steady Temba Bavuma was dismissed (59, 101b, 7×4), South Africa-A still needed 65 runs. That was perhaps the only time the tourists may have harboured a few doubts, for Mohammed Siraj had just bounced out first-innings centurion Marques Ackerman (24, 26b, 4×4), having him caught by wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel.
But Connor Esterhuizen (52 n.o., 54b, 8×4, 1×6) and Tiaan van Vuuren (20 n.o., 23b, 1×6) came together for an unbroken 65-run association from just 52 balls to help their side clinch an emphatic win against an XI that had as many as eight Test players who will play South Africa next week.
Speedsters Siraj and Prasidh Krishna bowled economically, but weren’t penetrative. Pacer Akash Deep, and spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Harsh Dubey, leaked runs by the truckload, conceding 298 collectively.
The pitch did ease for batting and the slow bowlers found little to no purchase, but there was seldom a period when India-A bowled tight lines to keep the batters quiet and induce mistakes.
While Hermann came up with a driving masterclass, Senokwane and Bavuma excelled in quiet accumulation. No. 3 Zubayr Hamza (77, 88b, 9×4, 3×6) was brisk without appearing to be so, the kind of deception which ultimately tripped India-A and helped draw the series 1-1.
The scores: India-A 255 in 77.1 overs & 382/7 decl. in 89.2 overs lost to South Africa-A 221 in 47.3 overs & 417/5 in 98 overs (Jordan Hermann 91, Lesego Senokwane 77, Zubayr Hamza 77, Temba Bavuma 59, Connor Esterhuizen 52 n.o.); PoM: Marques Ackerman; PoS: Dhruv Jurel.