Hubballi: Opener Priyank Panchal (87; 148b; 12x4; 2x6) came up with a captain's knock and wicketkeeper batsman S Bharat (74 batting; 104b; 10x4) held up one end to bail out India 'A' against New Zealand 'A' here on Friday. The second four-day game began an hour behind schedule on Day 2 after the opening day’s play was abandoned due to overnight rain. Invited to bat, the hosts were 229/6 in 66 overs when stumps were drawn.
Pacer Logan van Beek gave the visitors the initial breakthrough when he dismissed Abhimanyu Easwaran (22) in the 12th over. This triggered a collapse as Van Beek combined with fellow pacer Jacob Duffy to run through the top order.
Ruturaj Gaikwad was Van Beek's second wicket, while last-match centurion Rajat Patidar offered Duffy a return catch. Another in-form batter Tilak Varma lost his stumps to the new-ball bowler as India ‘A’ lost three wickets for the addition of 15 runs.
Precariously placed at 68/4, Panchal and Bharat rebuilt the innings with their 117-run association for the fifth wicket.
As Panchal inched closer to his century, the partnership was broken by Sean Solia. Bharat carried on till the end of day’s play. India ‘A’ made a few changes in their line-up with Sarfaraz Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Arzan Nagwaswalla and Yash Dayal making way for Shardul Thakur, Rahul Chahar, Saurabh Kumar and Umran Malik.
Brief scores: India 'A': 229/6 in 66 overs (Priyank Panchal 87, S Bharat 74 (batting), Shardul Thakur 26; Jacob Duffy 2-55, Logan Van Beek 2-39) vs New Zealand 'A'.
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