NORTHAMPTON, England, CMC – Devon Smith plundered his second successive century as West Indies A crushed India A by 166 runs, in the opening match of the Tri-Nation Limited Overs series here yesterday.
The left-hander carved out a brilliant 104 from 98 balls to fire the Caribbean side to 329 for six off their 50 overs after being sent in at the County Ground at Wantage Road.
Leg-spinner Anthony Martin then snatched three for 47 and seamer Lionel Baker, two for 32, to send the Indians packing for 163 all out from 33.2 overs.
The victory was the third on the trot for the resurgent West Indies A who started the series slowly but have now found their stride, following a clean sweep of the two-match one-day series against Ireland in Belfast last week.
Smith, who hit a 114 against Ireland on Friday, again found an ally in Andre Fletcher who stroked 88, as the duo posted an up-tempo 193 for the first wicket which put India A on the back foot from early.
While the left-handed Smith stroked 14 fours, Fletcher hit 11 fours from just 93 balls as West Indies A tore into opening bowlers Sudeep Tyagi and the usually dangerous teenaged left-handed seamer Jaidev Unadkat.
Fletcher’s dismissal triggered a slide which saw three wickets fall for 12 runs in the space of 15 balls but all-rounder Kevin Stoute, who stroked an unbeaten 52 and Assad Fudadin (10) temporarily halted the collapse with a 34-run, fourth wicket stand.
When Fudadin was run out and Chadwick Walton (4) was bowled by Jaskaran Singh ((2-73) in quick succession to leave Windies A on 250 for five in the 42nd over, Stoute and the irrepressible Andre Russell provided the late order fireworks with a 71-run, sixth wicket partnership off just 38 balls.
Stoute faced 60 balls and struck six fours while Russell, who has been in fantastic form on tour with both bat and ball, crashed four fours and two sixes in a frenetic 21-ball 42.
India were off to a solid start with Ajinkya Rahane stroking five fours in scoring 23 from 18 balls in a stand of 32 with Abinhav Mukund (12).
Russell got the breakthrough when he prised out Mukund and wickets then tumbled steadily as India A slipped to 91 for five in the 19th over.
Captain Cheteshwar Pujara tried to repair the innings with his 31 from 51 balls but he was the second of Martin’s three wickets at 142 for seven and India continued their slide despite Jaskaran Singh’s rapid 51 from 45 balls with three fours and three sixes.
SCOREBOARD
WEST INDIES A innings
*D Smith run out 104
A Fletcher c Tiwary b Mithun 88
K Edwards c wkpr Saha b Jaskaran Singh 2
A Fudadin run out 10
K Stoute not out 52
+C Walton b Jaskaran Singh 4
A Russell c Tiwary b Unadkat 42
I Khan not out 4
Extras (b1, lb6, w14, nb2) 23
TOTAL (6 wkts; 50 overs) 329
Did not bat: G Tonge, L Baker, A Martin
Fall of wickets: 1-193 (Fletcher, 30.3 overs), 2-198 (Edwards, 31.5), 3-205 (Smith, 33), 4-239 (Fudadin, 40.4), 5-250 (Walton, 41.4), 6-321 (Russell, 48)
Bowling: Tyagi 10-0-81-0, Unadkat 10-0-73-1, Mithun 10-0-49-1, Jaskaran Singh 10-0-73-2, Iqbal Abdulla 10-0-46-0.
INDIA A innings
A Mukund c Baker b Russell 12
A Rahane run out 23
M Pandey c wkpr Walton b Tonge 14
*C Pujara c Fudadin b Martin 31
+W Saha c Smith b Martin 4
M Tiwary c Edwards b Baker 8
Iqbal Abdulla c & b Baker 0
Jaskaran Singh c Fudadin b Khan 51
A Mithun b Martin 3
J Unadkat c Fletcher b Stoute 2
S Tyagi not out 2
Extras (lb5, w6, nb2) 13
TOTAL (all out; 33.2 overs) 163
Fall of wickets: 1-32 (Mukund, 5.3 overs), 2-36 (Rahane, 6.3), 3-50 (Pandey, 8.4), 4-75 (Saha, 15.1), 5-91 (Tiwary, 18.2), 6-91 (Iqbal Abdulla, 19), 7-142 (Pujara, 28), 8-148 (Mithun, 30), 9-161 (Jaskaran Singh, 32.4), 10-163 (Unadkat, 33.2)
Bowling: Tonge 6-0-39-1, Russell 6-0-24-1, Baker 8-1-32-2, Martin 10-0-47-3, I Khan 3-0-16-1, Stoute 0.2-0-0-1.
Result: West Indies A won by 166 runs.
Toss: India A.
Points: West Indies A 5, India A 0.
Umpires: Rob Bailey, Peter Willey.
