Russell comes good again, but West Indies 'A' suffer defeat

LEICESTER, England (CMC): West Indies 'A' were upstaged in the fourth match of the Tri-Nation Series yesterday, when Cheteshwar Pujara scored 114 to set up India 'A' for a 53-run victory.

West Indies 'A' were left to rue their decision of choosing to field on a flat Grace Road pitch, when Pujara, the Indian captain, struck 12 boundaries in his 90-ball innings to lead his side to 340 for six from their allocation of 50 overs.

Darren Bravo, the brother of senior West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, then smote eight fours in 83 from 104 balls, as West Indies 'A' were restricted to 287 for seven from their 50 overs.

Bravo was involved in two half-century partnerships that kept West Indies 'A' in the hunt, after they wobbled to 72 for three in the 13th over.

The left-hander added 61 for the fourth wicket with fellow leftie, Assad Fudadin, and 70 for the fifth wicket with Andre Russell.

Fudadin made 26 from 51 balls, and Russell continued his impressive form with the bat, stroking four fours and two sixes in 49 from 31 balls.

When Russell was bowled and became the last of Abhimanyu Mithun's three wickets for 49 runs from nine overs, West Indies 'A' needed 120 from the last 10 overs.

Stand-in captain Dave Bernard Jr joined Kevin Stoute and put on 61 for the seventh wicket before he was run out in the penultimate over for 33. Stoute was not out on 30.

Earlier, West Indies 'A' knew they faced a long, hard grind when Shikhar Dhakar scored 59 from 42 balls, including eight fours and two sixes, and fellow opener Abhinav Mukund made 36 in an opening stand of 95.

Russell made the breakthrough in the 13th over and Lionel Baker had Mukund caught behind in the 16th over, to leave India 'A' on 106 for two.

But West Indies 'A' failed to take control of the match, as Pujara followed up his 73 in Thursday's defeat to England Lions (England 'A') with a match-winning innings, and Ajinkya Rahane collected nine fours and one six from 101 balls, allowing India to compile a formidable total.

Russell and Baker finished with two wickets apiece.

India 'A' claimed four points from their win, which took them one behind West Indies 'A', with one match remaining apiece.

England Lions still head the standings on eight points, having played one game fewer.

SCOREBOARD

INDIA 'A'

A. Mukund c wkpr Fletcher b Baker 36S. Dhawan c Fudadin b Russell 59A. Rahane b Tonge 90C. Pujara lbw b Baker 114M. Pandey st Fletcher b Khan 5M. Tiwary b Russell 2+W. Saha not out 9Jaskaran Singh not out 9Extras (lb2, w10, nb4) 16TOTAL (6 wkts, 50 overs) 340

Iqbal Abdulla, D. Kulkarni, A. Mithun did not bat

Fall of wickets: 1-95 (Dhawan, 12.5 overs); 2-106 (Mukund, 15.6); 3-257 (Rahane, 40.6); 4-286 (Pandey 43.5); 5-302 (Tiwary, 46.2); 6-357 (Pujara, 48.2)

Bowling: Tonge 8-0-59-1, Russell 8-0-63-2, Baker 10-0-73-2,Bernard 5-0-22-0, Martin 8-0-48-0, Stoute 4-0-30-0, Khan 7-0-43-1

WEST INDIES A

+A. Fletcher c wkpr Saha b Kulkarni 38I. Khan c wkpr Saha b Mithun 1D.M. Bravo b Mithun 83K. Edwards b Kulkarni 5A. Fudadin lbw b Dhawan 26A. Russell b Mithun 49K. Stoute not out 30D. Bernard run out (Tiwary) 33G. Tonge not out 3Extras (b4, lb5, w9, nb1) 19TOTAL (7 wkts, 50 overs) 287

A. Martin, L. Baker did not bat

Fall of wickets: 1-9 (Khan, 2.1 overs); 2-57 (+Fletcher, 7.5); 3-72 (Edwards, 12.4); 4-133 (Fudadin, 28.2); 5-203 (Bravo, 37.3); 6-221 (Russell, 39.6); 7-282 (Bernard, 48.3)

Bowling: Mithun 9-1-49-3, Kulkarni 10-0-61-2, Jaskaran Singh 9-0-44-0, Dhawan 8-0-47-1, Iqbal Abdulla 10-0-50-0, Tiwary 4-0-27-0

Result: India-A won by 53 runs

Toss: West Indies-A

Points: India-A 4, West Indies-A 0

Umpires: P. Hartley, J. Lloyds.