<p> India ‘A’ squandered a strong start by their openers to hand the initiative to New Zealand ‘A’ as they were struggling at 136 for four at the end of the rain-affected opening day of the first unofficial Test here on Wednesday. <br /><br /></p>.<p>Sent in to bat, Unmukt Chand (54) and captain Abhinav Mukund (42) gave India a solid start, scoring 50 runs in just 10.5 overs while adding 82 runs for the first wicket before the latter was dismissed towards the lunch break. <br /><br />One-down Anustup Majumdar lasted just five balls for his four but Chand, who captained India to under-19 World Cup triumph recently, held on firmly to carry India to 109 for two at the lunch break. <br /><br />However, Chand fell soon after reaching his half-century and New Zealand struck once again in the form of Manandeep Singh’s (20) wicket to reduce India to 136 for four before bad light stopped play. <br /><br />Chand faced 93 balls for his 54 and hit nine fours. <br />Brief scores: India A: 136/4 in 36.4 overs (Unmukt Chand 54, Abhinav Mukund 42; Tarun Nethula 1-21). <br /></p>
<p> India ‘A’ squandered a strong start by their openers to hand the initiative to New Zealand ‘A’ as they were struggling at 136 for four at the end of the rain-affected opening day of the first unofficial Test here on Wednesday. <br /><br /></p>.<p>Sent in to bat, Unmukt Chand (54) and captain Abhinav Mukund (42) gave India a solid start, scoring 50 runs in just 10.5 overs while adding 82 runs for the first wicket before the latter was dismissed towards the lunch break. <br /><br />One-down Anustup Majumdar lasted just five balls for his four but Chand, who captained India to under-19 World Cup triumph recently, held on firmly to carry India to 109 for two at the lunch break. <br /><br />However, Chand fell soon after reaching his half-century and New Zealand struck once again in the form of Manandeep Singh’s (20) wicket to reduce India to 136 for four before bad light stopped play. <br /><br />Chand faced 93 balls for his 54 and hit nine fours. <br />Brief scores: India A: 136/4 in 36.4 overs (Unmukt Chand 54, Abhinav Mukund 42; Tarun Nethula 1-21). <br /></p>