Nadeem, Siraj put India ‘A’ on course for victory

KINGSTON: Shahbaz Nadeem picked up a five-wicket haul while M Siraj bagged three as India A bowled West Indies A out for 180 in their second innings on Day 3 of the ‘unofficial’ Test and were on course for a comfortable victory. Needing only 97 for victory, India A were 29 for 1 at Stumps.

Starting the day at 299 for 8 in their first innings, India A only managed to add 13 runs to their overnight total before being bowled out for 312. Wriddhiman Saha (66) was the last to be dismissed, out leg-before to Miguel Cummins who picked up a four-wicket haul. West Indies A started their second innings in a promising manner as Montcin Hodge and Jeremy Solozano put on 44 for the opening wicket before Nadeem sent back the openers in quick succession. Skipper Shamarh Brooks and Roston Chase put on a 79-run stand for the third wicket to steady the innings.

However, Brooks fell to Nadeem after registering a half-century and Shivam Dube accounted for Chase, following which Siraj delivered quick strikes to run through the West Indies A middle order. Despite four of the top five crossing 20, only Brooks converted his start into a half-century before West Indies A suffered a massive collapse - losing seven wickets for only 50 runs while last man Shermon Lewis didn’t come out to bat.

Needing less than 100 for victory with plenty of time left in the game, Priyank Panchal and Abhimanyu Easwaran were in no hurry, especially the former.

Brief scores: West Indies A 228 & 180 (Shamarh Brooks 53; Shahbaz Nadeem 5-47, M Siraj 3-38) lead India A 312 (Shivam Dube 71, Wriddhiman Saha 66; Miguel Cummins 4-40) & 29/1 by 67 runs.