Gurkeerat dazzles in India 'A' victory

Lusty hitting from the lower middle-order, sharp bowling from pacer S Arvind at the start and an impressive all-round show from Gurkeerat Singh combined to power India ‘A’ to an emphatic 96-run win over Bangladesh ‘A’ in the first of the three one-dayers here on Wednesday.

Wicket-keeper Sanju Samson (73, 76 balls, 8x4), Gurkeerat (65, 58b, 9x4) and Rishi Dhawan (56, 34b, 8x4, 2x6) all struck brisk half-centuries as India ‘A’ overcame a mini middle-order crisis to post a daunting 322 for seven at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Arvind then wiped the Bangladesh top-order in quick time and the visitors, despite a fighting 120-run sixth-wicket partnership from Liton Das (75, 75b, 8x4, 2x6) and Nassir Hossain (52, 71b, 2x4, 2x6), folded up for 226 in 42.3 overs.

Asked to bat first, India ‘A’ got off to a rousing start, thanks largely to some wayward bowling from new-ball bowler Taskin Ahmed. Boundaries, both by wides and fine shot-making from Mayank Agarwal (56, 70b) and Unmukt Chand (16, 16b, 4x4), helped the hosts get off the blocks at nearly 10 runs an over without having to take much risk.

However, against the run of play, Unmukt fell to Taskin and even before they could realise what was happening, India ‘A’ found themselves in a spot of bother at 76/4 with Manish Pandey (1), the experienced Suresh Raina (16) and Kedar Jadhav (0) back in the hut.

But the trio of Samson, Gurkeerat and Rishi then changed things around in brilliant fashion, batting in top gear right from the word go.

Samson and Gurkeerat first set the stage with a 102-run association that took India past 200-run mark in the 37th over.

Gurkeerat, who struck an 85-ball 87 in the triangular series final against Australia ‘A’, was in superb touch yet again. Looking good for a big one, he departed in the 41st over while attempting a slog-sweep but Rishi Dhawan then joined hands with Samson to send the innings into overdrive mode.

The Indians then smashed 98 runs in the last 10 overs to set a huge target.
The visitors’ chase then got off to a worst possible start when Arvind had Soumya Sarkar caught by Kedar Jadhav at short midwicket after the opener top-edged a short ball. One-down batsmen Anamul Haque was dismissed off the next ball and with Rony Talukdar getting castled by the same bowler in the sixth over, the visitors were in deep trouble at 34/3.

While Nassir and Das raised hopes of a fightback, the match slipped completely out of their hands when they were dismissed  by the impressive Gurkeerat (5/29). Thereafter, it was a mere formality and India cantered home with plenty to spare.