St George’s (Grenada): Half the West Indies ‘A’ team failed to get on the score-sheet as India ‘A’ bowlers wrecked havoc to guide the visitors to a thumping 108-run win in the second unofficial one-dayer and level the three-match 1-1 here.
In a low-scoring affair, the Indians put up a rather modest 184 for seven in their 50 overs on the board before dismissing the hosts for 76 in just 27.1 overs.
Rohit Sharma top-scored for India with 39. AP
Jalaj Saxena put up a good all-round performance, chipping in with a valuable 56-ball 35 down the order besides picking up a couple of wickets to be adjudged man of the match.
Batting, which has been the visiting side’s bane the whole tour, was once again far from impressive as both the openers — Shikhar Dhawan (19) and Ajinkya Rahane (9) — departed with just 39 runs on the board.
The Caribbean bowlers, led by Jason Holder (three for 40), ensured regular fall of wickets but the Indians just about managed to get a fighting total riding on Rohit Sharma’s 73-ball 39 and Saxena’s 35.
To their credit, the Indians, despite regular fall of wickets, managed to last their entire 50 overs.
Chasing the target, the West Indians could not have asked for a worse start as they lost two wickets with just one run on the score-sheet.
From then on, it was a parade back to the pavillion with Jason Mohammed (26), Adrian Barath (13) and Assad Faudin (12) being the only batsmen to get into double figures.
Mohammed faced 47 balls and struck two fours but his resistance came to an end when he was bowled by Saxena in the 25th over at 71 for seven.
The rest of the line-up failed to breach the 10-run barrier and five of the host batsmen were dismissed without getting on the scoreboard. In fact, the last four West Indian wickets fell for just five runs.
Left-arm spinner Akshay Darekar was the wrecker-in-chief for the Indians, grabbing four wickets for just 17 runs in 6.1 overs.
He was ably supported by Saxena and the pace duo of Ashok Dinda and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Dinda and Kumar grabbed two wickets apiece. While Dinda conceded just four runs in his five overs (three of them maiden), Kumar’s seven overs cost only 18 runs.
The third and final match of the series will be played here tomorrow.
Brief Scores: India A: 184 for 7 in 50 overs (Rohit Sharma 39, Jalaj Saxena 35, Jason Holder 3/40) vs West Indies A: 76 all out in 27.1 overs (Jason Mohammed 26, Akshay Darekar 4/17).
PTI
