Shardul Thakur
Chennai: India A team beat New Zealand A in the first unofficial ODI match here after right-arm pacers Shardul Thakur and Kuldeep Sen shared seven wickets between them on Thursday.
At the MA Chidambaram Stadium here, India A sent New Zealand A for batting first after winning the toss and bowled them out at 167 in 40.2 overs. Thakur made a 4/32, while Sen had 3/30 bowling figures.
In the second innings, Ruturaj Gaikwad (41) and Rajat Patidar (45 not out) led the chase and met the target in 31.5 overs, giving Men-in-blue a 1-0 lead in the 3-match series.
Earlier, Thakur received perfect backing from the pitch, which served him good pace and bounce. In his first spell of four overs, he took two wickets and conceded only four runs. He castled Chad Bowes while New Zealand A wicket-keeper Dane Cleaver was caught at fine leg.
Kuldeep, who was a net bowler for the Indian Men's squad for T20 Asia Cup in the UAE, caught Joe Carter before wicket and Rachin Ravindra behind wicket after two balls. He also got Tom Bruce when the Kiwi batter got caught at the slip, and the visiters fell 27/5 in 7.3 overs.
Later Sean Solia got run-out, captain Robert O Donnell gave a wicket to Thakur, and Logan Van Beek gave a wicket to Kuldeep Yadav, the spinner.
But Michael Rippon (61) and Joe Walker (36) added 89 runs in the ninth wicket, giving the Kiwis a relief, taking the total from 74/8 to 167.
Later, in the second innings, Prithwi Shaw left the pitch earlier with 17 of 24. Gaikwad and Rahul Tripathi (31) put on a stand of 56 runs for the second wicket before the former gave a retune catch to Michael Rippon.
Van Beek castled Tripathi, and Rajat Patidar came to crease to join captain Sanju Samson. Patidar, who smashed seven boundaries, and Samson sealed the match in India A's favour.
The second ODI match is scheduled on Sunday at the same venue.
Brief Scores: New Zealand A 167 all out in 40.2 overs (Michael Rippon 61, Joe Walker 36, Shardul Thakur 4/32, Kuldeep Sen 3/30) lost to India A 170/3 in 31.5 overs (Rajat Patidar 45 not out, Ruturaj Gaikwad 41; Michael Rippon 1/28, Matthew Fisher 1/32) by seven wickets