India A played some outstanding cricket to win the quadrangular series, defeating Australia in the final of the competition at Harrup Park on Sunday. They won the match by 57 runs. Both batsmen and bowlers contributed equally to play an important role in clinching the title. Mandeep Singh, who fell five runs short of a ton, was the hero with the bat, while Yuzvendra Chahal was brilliant with the ball, picking up four important wickets.
This victory is special for India A as they failed to defeat Australia A in the group stages. They lost both their matches, and Manish Pandey's team were keen to turn the results around when it mattered the most.
India A won the important toss, and decided to bat first, which proved to be correct as their batsmen, primarily Mandeep, gave them a good start. He was not ruffled with the early dismissal of his opening partner Karun Nair in the second over. Mandeep was involved in two good partnerships, first with Shreyas Iyer and then later with skipper Pandey.
With some good contribution from Kedar Jadhav and Axar Patel, India A compiled 266 runs in their alotted 50 overs. Australia got off to a good start, but Dhawal Kulkarni dismissed opener Kurtis Patterson, which was an important one for the visitors.
Still, Australia A were looking good, but Nair picked up two quick wickets to bring back India A into the match. Alex Ross and Peter Handscomb were scoring important runs in the middle. They were inching closer towards the target.
After Kulkarni dismissed Ross, Chahal began to weave his magic through, and Australia, who were 168 for four at one point of time, lost wickets at regular intervals. The hosts were soon all out for 209 runs, and with it India emerged victorious in the final.
