India A recovered from a middle-order collapse to reach 291/7 on Day 1, led by skipper Dhruv Jurel's unbeaten 99
Devdutt Padikkal anchored the early innings with a brisk 80 before Fraser Sheat's quick wickets put New Zealand A on top
Jurel stabilized the innings alongside Manav Suthar (22) and Akash Deep (25*) to steer the visitors to safety by stumps
Skipper Dhruv Jurel made a solid unbeaten 99 after Devdutt Padikkal’s breezy 80 as India A recovered well to score a strong 291 for seven against New Zealand A on the opening day of the four-day match at Christchurch on Saturday.
Jurel (99 batting, 155b) and Akash Deep (25 batting) were at the crease at close. The eighth-wicket pair has so far added 69 runs in 18.4 overs to keep the visitors afloat.
At lunch, India were comfortably placed at 87 for one despite the early dismissal of Yashasvi Jaiswal, who trapped leg before by pacer Fraser Sheat in the fourth ball of the first over.
But India lost Sai Sudharsan (41) in the first over after lunch as the left-hander punched an away going delivery from pacer Jarrod McKay to get caught by stumper Mitchell Hay.
But Padikkal continued unfazed, bringing up a sturdy fifty in 101 balls with a boundary through the point off McKay.
India were 131 for two at this stage, but the Kiwis rattled them with three wickets in the span of seven runs.
First to depart was Yash Rathod (13). The left-hander feathered a lovely out-swinger from pacer Brett Randell to stumper Hay, and Padikkal followed him soon.
The left-hander’s attempted cut off Sheat took a deflection off his bat to disturb the stumps.
In the very next ball, Ravichandran Smaran offered a no-shot to a delivery that came in a wee bit to ping his pads.
The umpire agreed to Sheat’s shout for a leg-before wicket as Smaran trudged off the field.
Washington Sundar too did not last long, getting trapped in front by Sheat, who was the most successful home bowler.
But Jurel found a willing ally in Manav Suthar (22) as the seventh wicket duo milked 62 runs to keep the home bowlers at bay.
However, Suthar perished mid-way through the final session, leaving Jurel the only acknowledged batter in the middle.
The right-hander reached his fifty in 93 balls and soon punished McKay for a sequence of 4, 6, 4 to give India some momentum.
Jurel, who played a couple of excellent drives and pull shots off McKay and Randall, was then joined by a stubborn Akash as India waded through the final phase of the day without any trouble.
