IND-A vs NZ-A, 1st Unofficial Test, Day 1: India A, led by Dhruv Jurel, delivered an insipid batting performance on Day 1 of the first unofficial Test at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln.
Experienced batter KL Rahul was one of the five batters to register a duck to cap off India A’s total of 113 on Day 1. To add to their woes, Rahul seemingly committed a fielding lapse too.
IND-A vs NZ-A, 1st Unofficial Test, Day 1: KL Rahul under spotlight for batting and fielding woes
The seemingly dropped catch by Rahul at slip occurred in the 20th over of the innings bowled by Auqib Nabi to right-handed opener Curtis Heaphy, who was squared up and edged the ball behind the wickets. While Rahul dived forward, he was not able to take the catch. However, the ball also may not have necessarily carried to the veteran cricketer and instead bounced in front of him.
IND-A vs NZ-A, 1st Unofficial Test, Day 1: Auqib Nabi hits back with two wickets off two balls after New Zealand A’s strong start
While New Zealand A made a strong start after bowling the tourists out cheaply, Auqib Nabi has hit back with two back-to-back wickets. After Mukesh Choudhary dismissed skipper Rhys Mariu for 76 to break the 132-run opening stand, Nabi got the better of Jayden Lennox for a four-ball duck and sending Tim Robinson packing in the first delivery. At stumps, the hosts still held a 22-run lead with seven wickets in hand.
It was New Zealand A that won the toss and elected to field first. Only Yash Rathod (44), Devdutt Padikkal (32) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (17) got to double figures as the visitors’ innings lasted only 39.3 overs for their 113 runs. Simon Keane was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 11.3-4-24-5.
With India A left chasing the game in the first unofficial Test, they will hope for a better show in the next two Tests and try to put up a fighting batting performance in their second dig.