Agarwal, Shaw flatten South Africa 'A'

Mayank Agarwal is no mood to stop. His splendid show of more than 2000 runs across all formats last season failed to earn him a national call-up but he is no longer the Mayank of the old. Oblivious to the constant attention around him, the attacking opener has maintained his hunger for piling up massive runs.

He set the tone for the fresh season with three centuries in the 50-over format during India A’s tour of England in June. On Sunday, at his fortress, Mayank registered his highest score of the season so far. The talented batsman was unbeaten on 220 (250b, 31x4, 4x6), taking India 'A' to 411 for two against South Africa 'A' on the second day of the first four-day game here at the Chinnaswamy stadium on Sunday.

Prithvi Shaw, another rising batsman, also slammed an entertaining 136 (196b, 20x4, 1x6) as the duo forged an alliance of 277 runs for the first wicket. India ‘A’ now lead by 165 runs after bowling out their opponents for 246.

“It was great to watch him (Mayank) bat like that. I feel it is one of his best innings that I have seen. He just kept going on and on. I hope he scores more tomorrow,” said Prithvi after the day's play.

In recent times, Mayank has shown that he can convert his starts to big knocks consistently. Starting off with four boundaries, the 27-year-old looked in fine control. He slammed some delightful drives in the first session and post lunch, he essayed an array of shots, hardly missing a scoring opportunity.

South Africa ‘A’ bowlers kept bowling short or over-pitched all day. Against a quality India ‘A’ opening pair, they were asking for trouble. Dane Piedt finally broke the partnership, clean-bowling Shaw. The visitors plucked one more wicket when R Samarth (37) departed off the bowling of Duanne Olivier. Shreyas Iyer (9) was batting with Agarwal at close of play.

The lack of application from the visitors’ batsmen was apparent on Saturday when they laboured to 246 for eight at stumps. And in the morning, it took just three balls in the first over from pacer Mohammed Siraj to clean up the tail. Siraj finished with 5 for 56.