India A tour of South Africa, 2013

[sekhar]

create a thread for final

[StriKe]

www.indiancricketfans.com/showthread.php?p=2571134

[Soorma_Bhopali]

Source: http://www.espncricinfo.com/southafrica/content/story/662187.html Good job Pandeyji :hatsoff:

PAndey ji being a good hitter down the order and if this is true, ability to bowl consistent yorkers should mean that he is considered for the senior India ODI team on the basis of being a good death bowler itself . It will plug the main weakness of the ODI unit as of now.:two_thumbs_up:

[Chandan]

Final run feast on flat surface Big Picture It looked an excellent plan on paper. Send your fringe players, and a few first-choice batsmen, to South Africa on an A tour three months before the senior side travels to the country. Ideally, far better preparation than any camp in home conditions would have been. The main course - the two unofficial Tests - are yet to arrive, but going by what has happened in the one-day tri-series, India A haven't missed home much. The pitch at the LC de Villiers Oval in Pretoria has been so flat the South Africa A captain Justin Ontong has been left hoping for some grass on the wickets for the unofficial Tests. Given that one of them will be played on the same ground, Ontong might as well put in a prayer along with hoping. India A have not experienced what the senior team management might have wanted them to, but they have done what they usually do on such pitches back home. The batsmen have prospered, the bowlers have suffered. In their defence, the other sides have fared similarly. Barring the opening match, the side batting first has scored big and won, although the biggest margin has been only 39 runs. India A have made 291 and 285 and still lost, both times to Australia A. They have also shown off their batting firepower as they often do in one-dayers in benign conditions, plundering 309 in 38 overs against South Africa A. Shikhar Dhawan's astonishing 248 helped them to 433 against the same opposition. However, it is Australia A, and not the hosts, who await India A in the final. They are the only side to chase successfully in this series. They then went ahead and defended successfully from a seemingly lost cause as India A choked. Just like their opponents in the final, Australia A have several international players, who will be eyeing selection for the limited-overs leg of the senior side's dismal England tour. "Hopefully some of the performances coming off the back of this tour have got some guys in there," Aaron Finch, the Australia A captain, said. "Some of the guys definitely have their fingers crossed." Unlike India A, they can claim their workout in South Africa has been ideal, and timely. In the spotlight Suresh Raina has been India A's most economical bowler. While all the batsmen are internationals, India A have come with an inexperienced bowling attack. The spinners are yet to play for the senior side, as are two of the fast bowlers. Mohammed Shami and Jaydev Unadkat are raw in international cricket. All of them have been expensive, but Ishwar Pandey came in for praise from the coach Lalchand Rajput in his only match of the series. Rajput said Pandey came back strongly after an expensive opening spell against South Africa A to bowl several yorkers at the death and pick up four wickets. India A will need plenty more of them. Glenn Maxwell has taken a liking to the Indians this series. He savaged them for an unbeaten 145 off 79 at No. 7 to launch Australia A from 152 for 8 to 298 for 8. That earned him a promotion to No. 4, from where he hit 93 off 56. What does he have in store for India A in the final? Quotes "There has been a run fest for the batters on this pitch and a hard time for the medium-pacers. We have a team of pretty aggressive players and we're all very experienced in one-day cricket, we're very confident of our abilities and it's been good that we haven't quite played our best cricket and yet we've won three matches so far." Aaron Finch, the Australia A captain

Final was not a run fest and even the Indian bowlers came to party, defending a low total, because of which team won by 50 runs. Yes. so it can't even be called a close match. According to Firdose Moonda, nothing had changed in pitch, yet batsmen were dismissed cheaply and spinners bowled wonderfully. Actually, Aus A was a one man army against India A : Maxwell. He failed in one match and the entire team failed!

[SLICKR392]

Final was not a run fest and even the Indian bowlers came to party' date=' defending a low total, because of which team won by 50 runs. Yes. so it can't even be called a close match.[b'] According to Firdose Moonda, nothing had changed in pitch, yet batsmen were dismissed cheaply and spinners bowled wonderfully. Actually, Aus A was a one man army against India A : Maxwell. He failed in one match and the entire team failed!

Nope. Moonda said the pitch was different from the previous game.

@FirdoseMAre they playing on the same pitch or batsmen are too tired of scoring big scores? Firdose Moonda @ FirdoseM @TheLegSlip Not the same pitch.

[Chandan]

http://goo.gl/Ma6tnk Pujara century gives India A solid start Posted by: CSA on Saturday, 17 August 2013 India A captain, Cheteshwar Pujara, scored his 21st First-Class century to give his side a solid platform on Day one of the first unofficial Test against South Africa A (SA A) at Olympia Park in Rustenburg on Saturday. Pujara put on a 176-run third-wicket partnership with Rohit Sharma (70 not out), before he was bowled by an in-swinging delivery from Wayne Parnell six overs before the close of play. The 25 year-old Pujara says he is delighted with his performance: “Initially the wicket was doing a bit and when I went in to bat the off-spinner was turning the ball. It was important to stay at the crease and to avoid losing more wickets. It was difficult to score at the beginning but once I was set I could play my shots.” The SA A bowlers were consistent throughout the day, and were unfortunate not to be rewarded in slow and turning conditions. They built up the pressure with disciplined bowling, and restricted the visitors to less than three runs an over for two out of three sessions of the day. Coach, Vincent Barnes is satisfied with the performance from his bowlers: “I thought we stuck to our guns for probably three-quarters of the day. We kept them quiet, it was a strange type of wicket, there wasn’t much in for the bowlers. There was also a period where we got a bit impatient and started looking for wickets. “They played well, they left well and allowed themselves time to get in before they played risky shots and they capitalised against the older ball.” Simon Harmer(1/88), Andrew Birch (1/42) and Wayne Parnell (1/47) were the wicket-takers in tepid conditions, and accounted for the wickets of Shikhar Dhawan (11), Murali Vijay (44) and the centurion Pujara (140) respectively. The attack will be hoping to clean up the rest of the order with the aid of a beaming new ball on day two. “It will be important for us to get stuck in with a couple of early wickets,” Barnes added. “We have to be patient; it’s not a wicket where you should try to do too many things, even though the ball is new.” ------------------------------------- Dry and slow pitch? Turned in the first session itself? What kind of pitch is this? And Pujara got out on second new ball? Few matters of concern amidst an excellent performance! Well done Pujara and Rohit. Expected a bit more from Vijay. Concerned about the "Viru syndrome"(attacking the spinner drom the word go) from Dhawan. Hope other batsmen follow up this performance tomorrow.

[Bleed-Blue]

http://goo.gl/Ma6tnk Pujara century gives India A solid start Posted by: CSA on Saturday, 17 August 2013 India A captain, Cheteshwar Pujara, scored his 21st First-Class century to give his side a solid platform on Day one of the first unofficial Test against South Africa A (SA A) at Olympia Park in Rustenburg on Saturday. Pujara put on a 176-run third-wicket partnership with Rohit Sharma (70 not out), before he was bowled by an in-swinging deliveryfrom Wayne Parnell six overs before the close of play. The 25 year-old Pujara says he is delighted with his performance: “Initially the wicket was doing a bit and when I went in to bat the off-spinner was turning the ball. It was important to stay at the crease and to avoid losing more wickets. It was difficult to score at the beginning but once I was set I could play my shots.” The SA A bowlers were consistent throughout the day, and were unfortunate not to be rewarded in slow and turning conditions. They built up the pressure with disciplined bowling, and restricted the visitors to less than three runs an over for two out of three sessions of the day. Coach, Vincent Barnes is satisfied with the performance from his bowlers: “I thought we stuck to our guns for probably three-quarters of the day. We kept them quiet, it was a strange type of wicket, there wasn’t much in for the bowlers. There was also a period where we got a bit impatient and started looking for wickets. “They played well, they left well and allowed themselves time to get in before they played risky shots and they capitalised against the older ball.” Simon Harmer(1/88), Andrew Birch (1/42) and Wayne Parnell (1/47) were the wicket-takers in tepid conditions, and accounted for the wickets of Shikhar Dhawan (11), Murali Vijay (44) and the centurion Pujara (140) respectively. The attack will be hoping to clean up the rest of the order with the aid of a beaming new ball on day two. “It will be important for us to get stuck in with a couple of early wickets,” Barnes added. “We have to be patient; it’s not a wicket where you should try to do too many things, even though the ball is new.” ------------------------------------- Dry and slow pitch? Turned in the first session itself? What kind of pitch is this? And Pujara got out on second new ball? Few matters of concern amidst an excellent performance! Well done Pujara and Rohit. Expected a bit more from Vijay. Concerned about the "Viru syndrome"(attacking the spinner drom the word go) from Dhawan. Hope other batsmen follow up this performance tomorrow.

Pujara Still Seems To Have Problems with The In Swinger

[Old guy]

getting out is no big deal he was scoring very quickly at that moment and probably did not play like he usually does ..

[vvvslaxman]

Pujara Still Seems To Have Problems with The In Swinger

As long as he gets bowled after scoring 140 i am fine. Tendulkar does have problems against inswing too. Sehwag has problems too.

[Old guy]

As long as he gets bowled after scoring 140 i am fine. Tendulkar does have problems against inswing too. Sehwag has problems too.

how can people even call it weakness without seeing what happened ? was match telecasted ?

[Bleed-Blue]

As long as he gets bowled after scoring 140 i am fine. Tendulkar does have problems against inswing too. Sehwag has problems too.

Argeed

[cowboysfan]

how can people even call it weakness without seeing what happened ? was match telecasted ?

cannot infer anything from CI,anything could have happened.

[Old guy]

cannot infer anything from CI' date='anything could have happened.[/quote'] yep..to me he looked like going after the bowling playing at 6 rpo...

[SLICKR392]

Its possible that he missed the line. I don't see a player like Pujara at 140 getting knocked out by an inswinger.

[Lord]

Its possible that he missed the line. I don't see a player like Pujara at 140 getting knocked out by an inswinger.

or he edged it onto the stumps,can happen

[vvvslaxman]

how can people even call it weakness without seeing what happened ? was match telecasted ?

True.. Sometimes when you are good against most types of deliveries it will give us a perception that he is weak against specific type of delivery. He has to get out some way at some point. So happened that those were inswingers. Laxman had this perennial weakness of full pitched deliveries at his feet. He managed to live with it and score some important runs for us.

[Chandan]

http://goo.gl/e0ZGsD India A post mammoth 582-9 declared 18 August 2013, 18:50 India's test hopefuls steered India A into a strong position on day two of the first unofficial test against South Africa A (SA A) at Olympia Park in Rustenburg on Sunday. Rohit Sharma (119) and Suresh Raina (135) added to Cheteshwar Pujara's overnight century, to lift India A to a commanding first innings total of 582 for nine declared. It was another tough day for the bowlers, who toiled against patient and impressive batting from the visitors in unresponsive conditions. Wayne Parnell (3/89) and JP Duminy (3/80) were the top wicket-takers of the innings, with wickets a piece for Andrew Birch, Simon Harmer and Dean Elgar. Duminy made the most of spin conducive conditions with three wickets, and hopes the SA A batsmen will be able to capitalise on the helpful conditions. "There is a little bit of help for the spinners," Duminy said at the close of play. "I think it is obviously because of the rough the seamers have created, which brings the offspinners into play. "Conditions become easier to bat the longer you stay in but there is a little bit in it for the new ball," he added. "It's quite an abrasive field, so if you get past the new ball phase the ball gets old quite quickly and becomes flat. Hopefully we will be able to cash in on that." Sharma is happy with the way he went about constructing his innings, and hopes this will bring him a step closer to test recognition. "It was a crucial phase of the game when I went in and it was important that I stay in, because we didn't want to lose any more wickets," said Sharma. "I wanted to prove a point to myself, and nobody else, that I could battle out the situation if needed. In that process I didn't play my natural game, which normally includes a lot of shots. "I'm happy that I played close to 250 balls," he said of his innings. "Rather than facing 120, I feel facing that amount of balls was important." Reeza Hendricks was the only wicket to fall in SA A's response; caught behind for 10 off the bowling of seamer, Jaidev Unadkat. Dean Elgar (9 not out) and night-watchman Simon Harmer (1 not out), will resume the innings on 20 for one on Monday. "Tomorrow [Monday] morning is going to be a key time for us to get through" said Duminy. "If we come out of that unscathed we can try and dominate from there." SOUTH AFRICA A: JL Ontong (capt), KJ Abbott, RR Hendricks, D Elgar, RR Rossouw, JP Duminy, T Bavuma, WD Parnell, SR Harmer, TL Tsolekile (wk), ACR Birch INDIA A: M Vijay, S Dhawan, CA Pujara (capt), SK Raina, AM Rahane, RG Sharma, WP Saha (wk), Mohammed Shami, S Nadeem, IC Pandey, JD Unadkat ------------------------------------------------------ It is turning as is obvious from the success of few spinners, but why is it not reversing if the surface is abrasive? Do the SA bowlers not know this skill? Can't believe it. Hope Indian bowlers do so, though I know it is difficult to reverse kookaburra ball. And well done Rohit, Raina(grudgingly) and tail. A bit concerned at the failure of Rahane and Saha on such a placid track.

[Chandan]

http://goo.gl/8iKm1L DAY THREE Pandey strikes give India A control Posted by: CSA on Monday, 19 August 2013 Debutant Ishwar Pandey’s performance with the ball has given India A firm control of the first unofficial Test against South Africa A at Olympia Park in Rustenburg on Monday. Pandey’s new-ball spell late on Day three left SA A in trouble on 312 for nine at stumps in response to India A’s first innings total of 582 for nine declared. SA A’s batsmen were guilty of not consolidating their starts, with Rilee Rossouw (57), Justin Ontong (47) and Thami Tsolekile (47) failing to push on. JP Duminy looked confident and solid before he was given out lbw for 84 in the last over of the day. The left-hander batted with steady judgment and temperament for his 222-ball innings, and featured in two 50-run partnerships with Ontong and Tsolekile. Rossouw admitted the batsmen were disappointed at their failure to convert their starts into big scores. “If you look at the way India batted, most of their batsmen went on to score big which helped them to their total,” he said. “We would have wanted to get close but we haven’t managed to do that.” “It (the wicket) was a bit difficult to play on, to be honest i didn’t really know what to expect,” he continued. “As a team we said we wants to look to play as straight as possible and if it was short and wide we would attack.” The roles of India A’s bowlers balanced out well, with all of them making important contributions. Pandey finished as the highest wicket-taker with four for 40, with Suresh Raina the next best with two for 33. India A coach Lalchand Rajput gave no indication of whether or not they would enforce the follow-on, but rather praised the team effort from his bowlers. “It’s pleasing that we got them to nine wickets down today,” he said. “It would be even better if they were all out today but Duminy played an excellent innings. The bowlers bowled well; they stuck to their tasks, especially on this wicket where the length ball is ideal. “Pandey made his debut for India A in this match and has bowled exceptionally well. Unadkat and Shami gave him good support,” he remarked. “When you come to South Africa you always expect bouncy wickets. It was helpful on the first two days but we expected it to play this way on the third day.”

[Nash]

what is 4 day unofficial test match ? both team can bat two times in 4 days. ?

[rkt.india]

India A pacers secure comprehensive win Six wickets between the fast bowlers Ishwar Pandey and Mohammed Shami helped India A beat South Africa A by an innings and 13 runs in the first unofficial Test in Rustenburg, as a fighting 65 from Temba Bavuma went in vain. South Africa A resumed their first innings on 312 for 9 and frustrated the Indian bowlers, as Kyle Abbott and Andrew Birch added another 45. Suresh Raina eventually trapped Birch in front to end the innings on 357, 76 short of the follow-on target. Cheteshwar Pujara asked South Africa to bat again and his decision was immediately vindicated, as Pandey, who had claimed 4 for 46 in the first innings, bowled Reeza Hendricks off the third ball of the innings. Shami dismissed both Dean Elgar and first innings top-scorer JP Duminy in the sixth over to leave the hosts on 15 for 3 and staring at a deficit of 210. Rilee Rossouw continued his counterattacking ways, taking three fours off Shami in the 10th over. But as in the first innings, he failed to capitalise on his start as Raina bowled him for 34. South Africa resisted through Bavuma who, having departed for a duck in the first innings, produced a gritty half-century. Justin Ontong and Thami Tsolekile were stopped in their tracks as Shami and Pandey returned for their second spells. Ontong struck two fours off Shami in the 25th over before his stumps were disturbed and Tsolekile lost his to Pandey in the 35th. Wayne Parnell holed out to Shikhar Dhawan at deep midwicket off left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem, to leave South Africa A on 140 for 7. Bavuma soldiered on, collecting two fours off the 44th over from Nadeem to reach his fifty but pulled Rohit Sharma's first delivery of the innings to midwicket. Rohit also induced the edge from Abbott to the wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha after ten overs of further resistance and finished with 2 for 19 in eight overs, to go with his century from the first innings. Pandey bowled Birch in the 67th over to end with match figures of 7 for 71. Pujara, named the Man of the Match for his 137 in the first innings, lauded the efforts of his bowlers. "If you want to win a Test match you have to get 20 wickets and to do that in two days in these conditions is fantastic," Pujara said. "Our experience of playing in Indian conditions where you get similar wickets to this one has helped. Normally the wickets are flat and the bowlers are made to work hard for their wickets and that experience shone through today." South Africa A coach Vincent Barnes said his players had learnt a lot from the match despite the defeat. "I tell the players that these are the type of conditions you are going to play in most of the time and you have to have the game plan and the skills for it," Barnes said. "That is what international cricket is about, a few of the guys stepped up, some stuck in and batted well to get us into a good position, especially in the first innings. "At the end of the day these tough conditions give me an idea of the character of the players under situations like this," he said. "If they got 590 and we scored 480 we would walk off learning very little about ourselves and the game. There is a lot that we have learnt, I think the players understood that they are playing against world-class opposition and it was tough." The teams will square off in Pretoria for the second and final unofficial Test starting on August 24.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/southafrica/content/story/663759.html