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Cape Town - The South Africa 'A' team’s three-day warm-up match against the Indian Board President’s XI ended in a draw in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
When play resumed on day three the match was evenly poised with the home side trailing by 272 on 201/2 after 45 overs in their first innings.
Overnight batsmen Dhruv Shorey and Ricky Bhui continued to thrive in the conditions, adding a further 74 runs together, with the former reaching his third century in First-Class cricket before departing for 101 (162 balls, 16 fours, 1 six).
Not hindered by the loss of his partner, Bhui went on to record his seventh fifty in his short First-Class career after being joined by Siddhesh Lad.
The youngster did not last long however, becoming Shaun von Berg’s second scalp after he was caught behind for 10. The 21-year old Bhui looked to be heading towards the game’s fourth ton but Von Berg intervened again, trapping him LBW just nine runs short (91 off 165, 13 fours, 1 six) leaving the hosts on 347/5.
The lost wickets did well to slow down the scoring rate. The new men at the crease Anmolpreet Singh and Ishan Kishan struggled to get going and could only contribute a further 32 runs to the total before Singh was stumped for 32. The 20-year old’s wicket proved to be the last one to fall in the home side’s innings as they declared on 397/6, leaving Kishan and Jalaj Saxena unbeaten on 17 and 13 respectively.
Von Berg (3/62) was the pick of the bowlers, with Mthiwekhaya Nabe (1/70) and Senuran Muthusamy (1/25) also picking up a wicket each.
In a bid to get each member of the squad involved in the action, the visitors opened the batting with all-rounders Dwaine Pretorius and Von Berg in the second innings. Looking to build on the 76-run lead, the experimental combination was short-lived when Von Berg was caught out off Mihir Hirwani for 18. The bowler was not done there, he also claimed the scalp of Dane Piedt for 18.
Subsequent to the loss of that wicket, both captains shook hands, the match ended in a draw with Pretorius not out for 27. Hirwani finished with figures of 2/35 from his 8.3 overs.
