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India A turned in a sound all-round performance to humble Pakistan A by 130 runs in their limited-overs match in the Top End Series here at the Marrara Cricket Ground on Thursday.

Opener Gautham Gambhir led the assault for India with an undefeated 142 which propelled them to 313. His 147-run opening stand with Robin Uthappa (72) laid the foundation for a big score. Rohit Sharma (47 not out) joined Gambhir after captain Venugopal Rao was dismissed, and the pair added 121 in the last 15 overs.

The left-handed Gambhir faced only 136 deliveries and hit 14 fours and two sixes. Uthappa scored his runs off 94 balls with five fours and Sharma sent the ball to the ropes twice while facing 50 deliveries.

Pakistan began poorly, with Rudra Pratap Singh and Shib Shankar Paul, the Indian seamers, making early inroads. Rafatullah Mohmand was the only batsman to cross fifty, while the rest succumbed, mostly to the spinners.

Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla finished with figures of three for 34 from his 10 overs while Rao chipped in with two wickets, including that of Mohmand for 84, the latter making his runs off 115 balls with seven fours and a six.

Parthiv Patel, India’s wicketkeeper, too had a good outing, effecting five dismissals.

In another limited overs match played in Darwin on Thursday, at the Gardens Oval, New Zealand A defeated Northern Territory Chief Minister’s XI by 28 runs. The scores were:

New Zealand A 262-6 in 50 overs (M D Bell 102, M H W Papps 72; S J Regan 3-41). NT Chief Minister’s XI 234-7 in 50 overs (D K Richards 58, R M Bowden 37, T Scollay 57*, M M Brown 33; C S Martin 3-23).

India A will now play against hosts Australia A in a limited overs encounter at the Marrara Ground on Saturday (tomorrow) while Pakistan A’s next match is against New Zealand A at the same venue on Sunday.

Pakistan A won toss

India A

A R Uthappa c Shahid b Mansoor 72

G Gambhir not out 142

S Dhawan c Rafatullah b Irshad 12

*Y Venugopal Rao run out (Salman) 14

R Sharma not out 47

Extras (b1, lb7, w9, nb9) 26

Total (3 wkts, 50 overs) 313

Did not bat: †P A Patel, T P Singh, S S Paul, Piyush Chawla, R P Singh, R S Sodhi

Fall: 1-147, 2-171, 3-192

Bowling: Wasim Khan 10-0-59-0 (2w); Mohammad Khalil 10-1-59-0 (3nb); Mohammad Irshad 10-0-65-1 (4nb, 5w); Mohammad Hafeez 10-0-51-0 (1w); Mansoor Amjad 10-0-71-1 (2nb, 1w)

Pakistan A

Mohammad Hafeez c Patel b R P Singh 11

Rafatullah Mohmand st Patel b V Rao 84

Shahid Yousuf c Sharma b Paul 0

*Misbah-ul-Haq c Sodhi b Paul 13

Bazid Khan c Patel b R P Singh 3

Hasan Raza c R P Singh b Chawla 36

Mansoor Amjad c Patel b Chawla 7

†Mohammad Salman c Patel b Chawla 11

Mohammad Khalil c Sharma b T P Singh 2

Wasim Khan b Venugopal Rao 2

Mohammad Irshad not out 9

Extras (w3, nb2) 5

Total (all out, 39.3 overs) 183

Fall: 1-22, 2-23, 3-56, 4-64, 5-120, 6-131, 7-155, 8-160, 9-166

Bowling: R P Singh 7-0-45-2 (3w); Paul 6-1-14-2; Sodhi 6-0-37-0 (2nb); Piyush Chawla 10-1-34-3; T P Singh 9-0-47-1; Venugopal Rao 1.3-0-6-2

Result: India A won by 130 runs

Umpires: I H Lock and R J Tucker. Match referee: D J Harper
Source:The News