Mayank Agarwal stroked a century while seamer Deepak Chahar snapped up five wickets to hand the Windies A team a seven-wicket defeat in the ongoing Tri-Series.
Deepak Chahar
After losing to the hosts England Lions team, the Caribbean side suffered another defeat as the combined force of Agarwal and Chahar proved too much for the Island Boys in a low-scoring match.
Batting first, it was a gutsy 64 not out from Devon Thomas and a robust 45 from Guyanese opener, left-hander Chandrapaul Hemraj ,which saw Windies A to 221 all out in 49.1 overs. Chahar, the star with ball in hand, grabbed a magical 5-27 from his 10 overs, finding meagre support from a few of his teammates who grabbed a wicket each.
Chandrapaul Hemra
Captain Jason Mohammad scored a decent 31 while all-rounder Rovman Powell hit 24 as they rounded off the primary scorers for Windies A team. Chasing a low score, the Indians were equal to the task as the 27-year-old Agarwal set the tone for the chase with a sublime knock of 112 from just 102 balls with 11 fours and 2 sixes.
Shubman Gill saw things home for India with a composed innings of 58 not out with nine boundaries, along with the ever-aggressive Rishbah Pant who cracked 18 off 10 with two sixes and a four.
It was a day to toil for wickets as the Windies. Left-arm seamer Dominic Drakes was the most successful operator with the ball, grabbing 2-37, with Chemar Holder chipping in with 1-48.
Agarwal has now shot to the leading run-scorer position, racking up some 402 runs at an average of little over 100 while Chahar’s 11 wickets gave him the edge over his teammates for most wickets. India A currently sit on two points while the Windies will desperately want to grab their first point.
Meanwhile, the West Indies will look to rebound from their back-to-back losses when they play the Indians again on June 29. (Clifton Ross)
