India A clinched the triangular series trophy by beating the mighty Australia A comprehensively in the final by 4 wickets at the M.A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday.
India A ended Australia A's unbeaten streak finally and and what a way to do so! Gurkeerat Mann Singh was the star performer, scoring 87 runs from 85 balls. Most importantly, he remained unbeaten till the end alongside Sanju Samson.
Gurkeerat came out to bat at a difficult moment when India A were struggling at 108 for the loss of five wickets. He batted through the crucial period and kept the score board ticking, which kept the required run rate at check. He was also instrumental in building two crucial partnerships along with Axar Patel and Samson.
Earlier, Australia A had won the toss and decided to bat first. They started off in a fashion they have been doing regularly in the triangular series. Joe Burns and skipper Usman Khwaja were knocking the ball around without any hiccups whatsoever. It was Singh who broke the partnership which was looking ominous, as Burns hit the ball straight back to Singh of his own bowling.
India A bowlers bounced back brilliantly after that and kept on picking wickets at regular intervals. Karn Sharma and Axar Patel tightened the screws in the middle overs and that stopped the run flow. Patel picked 2 wickets in his 10 overs conceding 25 runs, while Sharma took 3 wickets in his 10 and gave away 37 runs. Their bowling ensured Australia A could post a modest 226 runs for the loss of nine wickets.
When India A came out to chase, the onus was on the in-form Mayank Agarwal, skipper Unmukt Chand and Manish Pandey. India A did get off to a good start but both Agarwal and Chand were dismissed in quick successions and in unlucky fashion too. India A lost five wickets in a span of 49 runs. Singh and Kedar Jadhav started rebuilding the innings for India A. Eventually, India A won the contest convincingly by 4 wickets.
