Both batsman scored centuries to lead side to victory
Rohit Sharma showed no signs of rust as he smashed 142 off 111 balls while Manish Pandey continued his imperious form to notch up an unbeaten 135 against the visiting Lankans
Mumbai: A day before his first competitive game in two months, Rohit Sharma was bubbling with energy and raring to go out and perform. On Thursday when the moment arrived, he cracked a blazing 142 (off just 111 balls) for India A in the only practice game Angelo Mathews’ Sri Lankans will get ahead of their ODI series, at the Brabourne Stadium here.Piling on the agony was Bengaluru boy Manish Pandey, who struck an unbeaten 135 off 113 balls to propel India A to a massive 382/6.
Leggie Karn Sharma (4/47) then rose to the occasion again as the visitors fell short by 88 runs, finishing the innings on 294/9. On a flat track, the Lankans failed to get going with only Upul Tharanga (76) getting a fifty-plus score.The home team’s batting was a complete contrast to that of the visitors, with the entire top order getting big scores. First up, Unmukt Chand registered his third straight fifty in a tour game, racing to his half-century in just 39 balls in an opening stand of 96 in 13 overs. Chand was out top edging a pull shot.The visitors despite trying out 10 bowlers were unable to stop the free flowing second-wicket stand between Pandey and Rohit.
The two scored at a run-a-ball and amassed 71 runs from the second Power Play. There was no dearth of boundaries either as Rohit smashed 18 while Pandey stroked 15. The two also hit one six each in their well-paced innings, which was witnessed by chief selector Sandeep Patil.With the regular fall of wickets, the visitors never really looked to topple the massive target and instead decided to spend time in the middle.
Both Kumar Sangakkara (34) and Mahela Jayawardene (33) got starts but were done in by the spinners. Parvez Rasool removed the former when the latter’s delicate glide was lapped up smartly by Chand at first slip while a googly from Karn castled Jayawardene. Dilshan looked unimpressive and was trapped in front by Karn off his very first ball. Dhaval Kulkarni too had a decent outing claiming two wickets from seven overs. He dismissed opener Kushal Perera in his first over and will gain from this show ahead of the ODI series.
SCOREBOARD
India A: Rohit Sharma (run out) 142, U. Chand c Sangakkara b Gamage 54, M. Pandey (not out) 135, M. Tiwary c Priyanjan b Prasad 36, K. Jadhav c Perera b Prasad 0, S. Samson c de Silva b Prasad 1, S. Binny c de Silva b Gamage 1. Extras (lb1, w12) 13. Total (for six wickets in 50 overs) 382.
FoW: 1-96, 2-310, 3-373, 4-373, 5-375, 6-382.
Bowling: Kulasekara 6-0-53-0, Prasad 6-0-57-3, Mathews 2-0-22-0, Perera 6-0-64-0, Gamage 7-0-41-2, Prasanna 6-0-27-0, Randiv 7-0-51-0, de Silva 6-0-42-0, Dilshan 3-0-19-0, Priyanjan 1-0-5-0.
Sri Lankans: K. Perera c Samson b Kulkarni 4, U. Tharanga c Binny b Karn 76, T. Dilshan lbw b Karn 14, K. Sangakkara c Binny b Rasool 34, M. Jayawardene b Karn 33, A. Mathews c Nair b Karn 3, A. Priyanjan c Karn b Rasool 23, N. Dickwella b Kulkarni 29, T. Perera c Sharma b Kuldeep 13, S. Prasanna (not out) 21, P. de Silva (not out) 26. Extras (b6, lb5, w7) 18. Total (for nine wickets in 50 overs) 294.
FoW: 1-4, 2-42, 3-111, 4-146, 5-166, 6-173, 7-224, 8-241, 9-242.
Bowling: Kulkarni 7-0-41-2, Binny 7-0-40-0, Karn 10-2-47-4, Rasool 10-0-56-2, Pandey 2-0-12-0, Kuldeep 10-0-48-1, Tiwary 2-0-23-0, Jadhav 2-0-16-0.
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