Bengaluru: Fast bowlers produced an excellent effort as India A made light of Marques Ackerman’s masterly hundred to nose ahead of South Africa A on the second day of the second four-day match here Friday.
Prasidh Krishna (3/35), Mohammad Siraj (2/61) and Akash Deep (2/28) used the pace and carry on the BCCI Centre of Excellence pitch to good effect to share seven wickets among them, bowling out SA for 221 in their first innings.
Ackerman’s 134 (118b, 17x4, 5x6) was the glue that held the SA innings together.
After securing a 34-run lead, India A were placed at 78 for three in their second innings, for an overall lead of 112 runs. KL Rahul (26) and Kuldeep Yadav (0) were batting at stumps. Abhimanyu Easwaran made the future path all the more tough with his second duck of the match, while Sai Sudharsan concluded his lukewarm preparation for the South Africa Test series with an underwhelming 23 off 38 balls.
Devdutt Padikkal (24) was batting steadily but an outstanding catch at gully by Lesego Senokwane brought a disappointing end to his tenure.
The total of 255 was always going to be a steep hill for SA batters to climb considering the quality in India’s bowling unit, and it panned out just like that.
In no time, the tourists were 12 for three inside the first eight overs. Senokwane had little clue about an Akash delivery that moved a wee bit away to uproot his off-stump. South Africa captain Temba Bavuma might be a little aggrieved after the on field umpire acceded to a down-the-leg caught behind appeal by Akash.agencies