India A vs South Africa A: Subrayen's five-wicket haul gives visitors edge, Pant fails with bat on return

The hosts collapsed to 234 all out in 58 overs at BCCI’s Centre of Excellence after having bowled out the visitors for 309 in the morning.

Bengaluru: There’s a fine line between confidence and recklessness. India A learnt that lesson the hard way after self-destructing in disastrous fashion to allow a disciplined South Africa A to stay ahead at the midway stage of the opening four-day game here on Friday.

Batters after batters, barring talented young opener Ayush Mhatre (65, 76b), were guilty of gifting their wickets on a platter, especially to seasoned off-spinner Prenelan Subrayen (5/61), as India A collapsed to 234 all out in 58 overs at BCCI’s Centre of Excellence after having bowled out the visitors for 309 in the morning.

A fired-up South Africa, who were relentless all through an unusually hot late October day with accurate wicket-to-wicket bowling, then batted with responsibility to take the stumps on the second day at 30/0, an overall lead of 105 runs that has left the hosts with a lot of fighting to do over the weekend.

The way 18-year-old sensation Mhatre batted in a rampaging first session, single-handedly destroying South Africa with audacious shot-making that betrayed his age, the post-lunch implosion from India A didn’t seem imminent.

Mumbai’s Mhatre, who has been making waves on the domestic circuit since his debut last season with his aggressive batting, once again unleashed mayhem on the South African bowlers. Picking the lengths extremely quickly, Mhatre never took his foot off the accelerator as he deposited the balls to the boundaries with utter disdain. 

The best part about his innings was the shot selection; he did not go bang-bang every ball but precisely knew which ones could be hammered to the boundaries. For a kid of his age still cutting his teeth to have that IQ showed why many pundits rate him as the next big thing along with 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi.

His comfort and confidence level was in complete contrast to Sai Sudharsan, India’s new No. 3, who struggled to time the ball for most of his frustrating 94-ball 32-run stay. It was like Mhatre was driving a swanky car on a perfectly tarred road while Sudharsan was behind the wheels of a jalopy on a pothole-ridden stretch. 

Despite the contrasting drives, India A motored along nicely before the spokes came off the moment Mhatre perished a little after lunch while trying to flick Subrayen. Probably taking the 32-year-old off-spinner lightly, both Devdutt Padikkal and Rajat Patidar played rank bad shots in an attempt to boss the South African and perished without making significant contributions. While Padikkal was caught at mid-off in attempting to step out and play an inside-out shot, Patidar went for an expansive drive and was bowled through the gates.

Skipper Rishabh Pant, playing his first match since fracturing his right foot during the Manchester Test against England in late July, too did not help the team’s cause with just 17. The need of the hour was for the stumper to spend time in the middle, but from the moment he walked to the crease, he just wanted to play the big shots.

He stepped down the first ball he faced and missed it completely. He did smack a couple of boundaries but always looked in a mood to take a risk. Just when he appeared to be sobering down, a nothing shot against pacer Okuhle Cele cut short his stay.

SCOREBOARD:

SOUTH AFRICA A (I Innings, O/n: 299/9): Jordan Hermann lbw Kotian 71 (141b, 8x4), Lesego Senokwane c Mhatre b Kamboj 9 (7b), Zubayr Hamza c Pant b Brar 66 (109b, 9x4, 1x6), Marques Ackerman c Suthar b Kotian 18 (22b, 2x4), Rubin Hermann b Kotian 54 (87b, 6x4), Rivaldo Moonswamy c Badoni b Suthar 5 (18b, 1x4), Tiaan van Vuuren c Padikkal b Suthar 46 (75b, 5x4, 1x6), Prenelan Subrayen b Kotian 1 (9b), Tshepo Moreki (not out) 8 (56b), Lutho Sipamla lbw Khaleel 6 (16b), Okuhle Cele b Brar 6 (18b, 1x4). Extras (B-12, LB-4, W-2, NB-10) 28. TOTAL (all out, 91.2 overs) 309. 

Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Senokwane), 2-136 (Hamza), 3-170 (Ackerman), 4-187 (J Hermann), 5-197 (Moonswamy), 6-269 (R Hermann), 7-277 (Subrayen), 8-289 (Vuuren), 9-299 (Sipamla).

Bowling: Khaleel Ahmed 15-1-60-1, Anshul Kamboj 16-3-40-1, Gurnoor Brar 15.2-2-45-2, Manav Suthar 20-4-62-2, Tanush Kotian 23—5-83-4, Ayush Badoni 2-0-3-0.

INDIA (I Innings): Sai Sudharsan c Moonsamy b Moreki 32 (94b, 3x4), Ayush Mhatre c Jordan b Subrayen 65 (76b, 10x4), Devdutt Padikkal c Cele b Subrayen 6 (22b, 1x4), Devdutt Padikkal 6 (22b, 1x4), Rajat Patidar b Subrayen 19 (35b, 1x4), Rishabh Pant c Hamza b Cele 17 (20b, 2x4), Badoni c Rubin b Sipamla 38 (47b, 5x4), Kotian c Senokwane b Subrayen 13 (26b, 2x4), Manav Suthar c Moonsamy b Van Vuuren 4 (6b, 1x4), Anshul Kamboj c Cele b Sipamla 5 (10b, 1x4), Gurnoor Brar (not out) 1 (9b), Khaleel Ahmed 4 (6b). Extras (NB-3, W-8, B-13, LB-6) 30. TOTAL (all out, 58 overs) 234.

Fall of wickets: 1-90 (Mhatre), 2-104 (Padikkal), 3-124 (Sudharsan), 4-157 (Pant), 5-159 (Patidar), 6-183 (Kotian), 7-188 (Suthar), 8-224 (Kamboj), 9-229 (Badoni).

Bowling: Tshepo Moreki 10-0-42-1, Okuhle Cele 9-1-42-1, Tiaan van Vuuren 7-0-35-1, Lutho Sipamla 10-2-35-2, Prenelan Subrayen 22-2-61-5.

SOUTH AFRICA A (II Innings): Jordan Hermann (batting) 12 (39b, 1x4), Lesego Senokwane (batting) 9 (34b). Extras (B-6, LB-2, NB-1) 9. TOTAL (for no loss, 12 overs) 30. 

Bowling: Khaleel Ahmed 4-0-11-0, Anshul Kamboj 3-0-5-0, Manav Suthar 1-0-4-0, Gurnoor Brar 2-2-0-0, Tanush Kotian 2-1-2-0.