CROYDON, England, CMC – Andre Russell continued to impress on the West Indies tour of England yesterday, but a fine hundred from India-A captain Chesteshwar Pujara put his side in a superior position in the second “Test”.
Russell collected three wickets for 51 runs from 18 overs, but Pujara struck 19 fours from 185 balls to revive India-A with an unbeaten 111 that carried his side to 329 for five when stumps were drawn on the opening day of the four-day “match at Whitgift School.
Gavin Tonge took two for 81 from 21 overs to support Russell, but defiant batting right down the India-A order put the Caribbean side on the defensive.
Russell gave Windies-A the breakthrough, when he removed Abhinav Mukund caught for 39, after the batsman shared an opening stand of 69 with Shikhar Dhawan.
Windies-A continued to face resistance, but two wickets for two runs brought them back in the game, and left India-A on 102 for two.
Russell had Ajinkya Rahane caught for 13, and Tonge added the scalp of Dhawan caught behind for 43, but Windies-A were put on the defensive, when Manish Pandey joined Pujara, and added 89 for the fourth wicket.
Russell also had him caught just before the tea to leave India-A 192 for four at the break, but Pujara consolidated his side’s position with stands of 46 for the fifth wicket with Manoj Tiwary, and 92 – unbroken – for the sixth wicket with Wriddhinam Shah.
Windies-A trail 0-1 in the two-match series, after losing the opening match by six wickets last Sunday at Grace Road.
Scoreboard
India-A 1st Innings
A. Mukund c Brathwaite b Russell 43
S. Dhawan c wkpr Walton b Tonge 39
A. Rahane c D.S. Smith b Russell 13
*C. Pujara not out 111
M. Pandey c Khan b Russell 36
M. Pandey c Smith b Tonge 36
W. Saha not out 32
Extras (b12, lb2, nb5) 19
Total (5 wickets, 90 overs) 329
Iqbal Abdulla, D. Kulkarni, Jaskaran Singh, J. Unadkat to bat
Fall of wickets: 1-69 (Mukund), 2-100 (Dhawan), 3-102 (Rahane), 4-191 (Pandey), 5-237 (Tiwary)
Bowling: Bernard 18-3-51-0, Tonge 21-3-81-2, Russell 18-4-51-3, Baker 7-2-15-0, Khan 21-1-98-0, Fletcher 5-0-19-0
WEST INDIES-A: *D.S. Smith, K. Brathwaite, A. Fletcher, O. Phillips, K. Edwards, +C. Walton, D. Bernard, I. Khan, A. Russell, L. Baker, G. Tonge
Toss: India-A
Umpires: M. Bodenham, R. Illingworth
