Dhawan's record-breaking double ton puts India A in final

Shikhar Dhawan’s breathtaking 248 runs off 150 balls here Monday helped India A beat South Africa A by 39 runs and secure a berth in the final of tri-series involving Australia A. A flat pitch, short boundaries and a marauding Dhawan, whose innings of 248 is the second-highest List A score, helped India A post a mammoth 433 for three at the LC de Villiers Oval here. South Africa A were bowled out for 394 in 48.4 overs. [caption id=“attachment_1027353” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Dhawan was India’s best batsman in their victorious Champions Trophy campaign. Getty Images[/caption] Dhawan’s innings was spiced with 30 fours and seven sixes. It is the highest List A score by an Indian but 20 runs short of the 268 scored by Alistair Brown of Surrey against Glamorgan 11 years ago. Virender Sehwag previously was the highest scorer for India when he plundered the West Indies for 219 in 2011 at Indore. Sehwag’s inning remains the highest ever individual ODI score. Dhawan, a 27-year-old left-hander who scored 187 on his Test debut against Australia, dislodges legendary South African Graeme Pollock from the second spot. Pollock’s score of an unbeaten 222 in 1974 is still the highest unbeaten score by any batsman. Captain Cheteshwar Pujara was another batsman to torment the South Africans, hitting an unbeaten 109 off 97 balls, including eight fours. India faced resistance from Reeza Hendricks (106) and Vaughn van Jaarsveld (108) as both hit centuries that lifted South Africa to within touching distance from India’s score. At 376 for five in 45.3 overs, the hosts needed 57 runs off 27 runs, but lost five wickets and managed to score just 18 runs off the next 25 balls. Brief Scores: India A: 433-3 after 50 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 248, Cheteshwar Pujara 109 n.o, Murali Vijay 40; Rusty Theron 1-98) vs South Africa A: 394 all out after 48.4 overs (Vaughn van Jaarsveld 108, Reeza Hendricks 106, Justin Ontong 49; Ishwar Pandey 4-76, Jaydev Unadkat 2-79) PTI