Ruturaj roars, India-A wins first one-dayer – The Hindu

Ruturaj Gaikwad blended poise with precision, crafting a sublime 117 that powered India-A to a four-wicket win over South Africa-A in the first one-dayer at the Niranjan Shah Stadium here on Thursday.

Ruturaj struck a dozen fours during his knock before Tiaan Van Vuuren cleaned him up when the team needed 68 more. However, Nitish Kumar (37) and Nishant Sindhu’s (29 not out) cameos took the team home with three balls to spare. Their 65-run association ensured South Africa-A, which often fumbled on the field, never found a way back.

Chasing 286, India-A began briskly through openers Ruturaj and Abhishek Sharma, who added 64. The latter’s 31 off 25 balls set the tone before Ruturaj steadied the innings in the company of skipper Tilak Varma. The pair added 89 for the third wicket before Tilak, after a scratchy 39, fell to a top-edged pull but Ruturaj completed his century off 118 balls, bringing it up with a pull over midwicket.

Earlier, the visitors recovered from 16 for four to post 285 for nine, thanks to Delano Potgieter’s 90 and Dian Forrester’s 77. Their 113-run stand revived the innings after the early burst from Arshdeep Singh and Prasidh Krishna, but it wasn’t enough to stop India-A from taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

The scores: South Africa-A 285/9 in 50 overs (Dian Forrester 77, Delano Potgieter 90, Bjorn Fortuin 59) lost to India-A 290/6 in 49.3 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 117). Toss: SA-A; PoM: Ruturaj.