Zaheer's four-wicket haul helps India A level series against WI A

HUBLI: Having spent nearly a year in the wilderness battling injuries, left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan finally rediscovered form, snaring four wickets as India 'A' crushed West Indies 'A' by an innings and 54 runs on Saturday. The win meant the three-match unofficial 'test' series ended in a 1-1 draw.
Posting a mammoth 564 runs in reply to West Indies' first innings score of 268, India rode on Zaheer's timely breakthroughs in the post-lunch session to bundle the visitors out for 242.Zaheer's figures read an impressive 16.5-3-59-4. Resuming at their overnight total of 116/3, the visitors ended the first session at 199/5 in 61 overs.
Thereafter they lost the plot, folding up for the addition of just 43 runs. West Indies' only source of resistance was Narsingh Deonarine. The 30-year-old Guyana right-hander displayed immense patience as he kept the Indian bowlers at bay. However, Zaheer befuddled him with a fine delivery, denying him his second straight century. Deonarine was a disappointed man as he trudged back to the pavilion on 99.
After the departure of Deonarine, none of the West Indies batsmen could provide any resistance.
Brief Scores: West Indies 'A' (1st innings): 268; India 'A' (1st innings): 564; West Indies 'A' (2nd innings) 242 all out (Deonarine 99, Fudadin 49, Zaheer 4/59); India won by an innings & 54 runs.
'Failures motivated me'
Cheteshwar Pujara's technique and temperament mirror his grounded nature. After two mediocre outings for India 'A' against West Indies 'A' in the first two 'tests' in Mysore and Shimoga, the right-hander's appetite for big scores came to the fore yet again as he scored an unbeaten 306 here on Friday.
Coming in 579 minutes off 415 balls and studded with 33 boundaries, it was Pujara's third first-class hundred and sixth overall. "It's just the hunger to score runs," said Pujara. "I realize the kind of expectations people have and I have to live up to them."
Rating his triple century on Friday as his best, Pujara, who became the ninth cricketer in the world to score three triple hundreds in the history of first-class cricket, said he was frustrated after a series of failures. "Friday's triple century was one of the best innings in my domestic career because there was enough help for fast bowlers."