Mukesh’s Five-For Undone by New Zealand A’s Tail

Christchurch: Mukesh Kumar and Mohammed Siraj produced the kind of bowling figures that usually decide a first-class innings. Together they claimed nine wickets. Yet as the third day closed at Hagley Oval, it was New Zealand A who held the advantage, their lower order having turned a position of vulnerability into a first-innings lead of 78.

Resuming on 218 for 3, New Zealand A lost overnight centurion Matthew Boyle early. Dean Foxcroft and Mitchell Hay then steadied the innings, holding firm for more than an hour before Siraj trapped Foxcroft leg before wicket on 93, his second victim of the day. Hay was caught behind in the following over, and Brett Randell departed soon after. A cluster of wickets had restored India A’s control.

The score read 291 for 7. What followed was the passage that altered the shape of the match.

The Tail That Would Not Yield

The last three wickets added 133 runs. Fraser Sheat blazed 40 with five boundaries and a six, but the most damaging resistance came from the Nos. 10 and 11, Jayden Lennox and Jarrod McKay, who kept the Indian attack at bay for almost 25 overs.

There was a reprieve along the way. In the second over of that partnership, Siraj dropped a straightforward chance to offer Lennox a life on 12. The miss assumed considerable significance as the stand wore on.

India’s spinners had toiled without reward across 45 overs over the preceding two days. Washington Sundar finally found the breakthrough in his 30th over, cleaning up McKay to end the innings. Mukesh finished with 5 for 87, Siraj with 4 for 118, figures that told only part of the story of a day on which the host’s resilience outweighed the visitors’ penetration.

India A Chip Away

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan negotiated the remaining overs without alarm, whittling 32 runs off the deficit before stumps. India A will resume on the fourth day still trailing by 46, with the match poised between a New Zealand A side sensing an opportunity and an Indian batting line-up that has already produced a century from Dhruv Jurel and an 80 from Devdutt Padikkal in this contest.

Brief scores: India A 346 (Dhruv Jurel 106, Devdutt Padikkal 80, Akash Deep 68; Fraser Sheat 4-63) and 32 for 0 trail New Zealand A 424 (Matthew Boyle 110, Dean Foxcroft 93; Mukesh Kumar 5-87, Mohammed Siraj 4-118) by 46 runs.

                                               

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