Ruturaj Gaikwad, Khaleel Ahmed star as India A beat New Zealand XI in first warm-up tie

Lincoln: India A top-order warmed-up nicely for their upcoming one-day series with a 92-run win against New Zealand XI in the first of the two practise games on Friday. [caption id=“attachment_7119781” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Ruturaj Gaikwad. BCCI[/caption] Batting first, India A scored 279 for 8 in 50 overs and then dismissed New Zealand XI for 187 in 41.1 overs with left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed getting four wickets. Batting first, skipper Shubhman Gill (50 off 66 balls) hit a half-century adding 89 runs for the second wicket with another specialist opener Ruturaj Gaikwad (93 off 103 balls), who came in at one drop to accommodate senior team player Mayank Agarwal (8). Once Gill was out, Gaikwad was joined by Suryakumar Yadav, who hit a 48-ball-50 with four fours and two sixes as the duo added 89 runs. As Surya attacked, Gaikwad held anchor at one end. During the back-end, Krunal Pandya scored a 31-ball 41 while Sanju Samson (4) and Vijay Shankar (13) failed to make an impact. New Zealand A started off with an 82-run opening stand between Jakob Bhula (50) and Jack Boyle (42) but Khaleel (4/43 in 9.1 overs) and Mohammed Siraj (2/33 in 8 overs) caused the bulk of the damage. Brief Scores: India A 279/8 in 50 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 93 off 103 balls, Suryakumar Yadav 50 off 48 balls, Shubman Gill 50 off 66 balls) beat New Zealand XI 187 in 41.1 overs (Jakob Bhula 50, Khaleel Ahmed 4/43 in 9.1 overs) by 92 runs.