India 'A' beat South Africans by an innings and 242 runs

NEW DELHI, September 15: Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha claimed eight wickets to help India 'A' win by an innings and 242-run margin against South Africa 'A' with a day to spare in their four-day cricket match at Ferozshah Kotla ground on Saturday.
The Hyderabadi spinner took three wickets in the first innings and followed it up with a five-wicket haul to skittle out the visitors cheaply.
Earlier, resuming on 93 for two, the Africans could add just 52 runs as Ojha and Amit Mishra took three wickets each to spin them out for a paltry 145 for nine as Alviro Petersen did not bat.
Overnight batsman MV Wyk (67) and skipper Boeta Dippenaar (26) added 46 runs for the third wicket before Delhi paceman Ishant Sharma sent back Wyk, who was dropped on 64 by Pankaj Singh, to open the floodgates. No batsman reached the double figure mark after this, as African batsmen succumbed to spin magic of Ojha and Mishra.
With a lead of 443 runs, Indian skipper Mohammad Kaif enforced the follow on. The Africans' began on bad note in the second innings as well as both the openers were cooling their heels in the dressing room before the lunch break with scorecard reading 28 for two.
It was a big task for Hasim Amla and Petersen to lay the foundation for a big partnership, but worst was in the store for them as Amla was clean bowled on the first ball after the break by Ojha.
Ojha pitched the ball on the middle stump and beat the bat to take the off stump off the ground as the Amla stood stunned. Ojha and Ishant bowled in tandem as both Petersen Dippenaar struggled against the spin-fast combination.
Petersen, trying to unsettle Ojha, stepped out and played an ambitious shot only to give a dolly to Ashraf Makda at mid-off, which he dropped when the batsman was at four. But Petersen failed to cash in on the opportunity as he was trapped in front of the wicket by Ishant Sharma, who looked a better bowler today.
This brought left-handed Ashwell Prince on the wicket and left-right batting combination did disturb the rhythm of Ojha. Dippenaar, meanwhile, had settled as he preferred playing with straight bat and played a couple of elegant drives off Ishant and Ojha.
However, the skipper failed to keep a cover drive on ground off Ojha and Aakash Chopra made no mistake in accepting a simple catch. The skipper departed after contributing 29 runs, and with his fall, team was reeling at 79 for five.
Prince also did not last long and the only consolation for the African side was half century of wicket-keeper batsman Thamie Tsolokile, who batted with courage for his 63 runs.
Tsolokile shared a 66-run stand for the seventh wicket with Justin Ontong, who also played a part with his 36 runs to help his team touch the 200-mark.