India A Vs South Africa A Highlights, 1st Unofficial ODI: Gaikwad Shines As IND A Register 4-Wicket Win Over SA A

Good afternoon, cricket fans! Welcome to our live blog for the first of three unofficial ODIs between India A and South Africa A. Stay tuned for the pre-match updates and playing XIs after the toss.

• Fixture: India A vs South Africa A, 1st Unofficial ODI

• Venue: Niranjan Shah Stadium, Rajkot, Gujarat

• Date: Thursday, November 13, 2025

• Time: 1:30 PM IST

• Live Streaming: JioHotstar There will be no live streaming or telecast of the match

South Africa A's captain Marques Ackerman has won the toss and opted to bat first.

India A: Abhishek Sharma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Riyan Parag, Tilak Varma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Nishant Sindhu, Harshit Rana, Vipraj Nigam, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna.

South Africa A: Rivaldo Moonsamy, Rubin Hermann (wk), Jordan Hermann, Marques Ackerman (c), Sinethemba Qeshile, Dian Forrester, Delano Potgieter, Bjorn Fortuin, Tian van Vuuren, Tshepo Moreki, Ottniel Baartman.

What a magnificent start for the hosts, as South Africa lose two wickets without opening their scoreboard in the first over from Arshdeep Singh. The Punjab pacer strikes with the very first ball, with Rubin Hermann holing it to Tilak Varma. A couple of balls later, Jordan Hermann falls short of his crease as Tilak gets a direct hit to dismiss the Proteas batter.

And the wickets keep on tumbling. Captain Marques Ackerman is the latest to depart, edging Prasidh Krishan to second slip fielder Abhishek Sharma. Two overs gone, and South Africa A have lost three wickets, all of them for ducks.

Rivaldo Moonswamy and Sinethemba Qeshile are on strike for South Africa. Astonishingly, none of the batters have been able to open their accounts, with the three runs coming from one leg-bye and a couple of wides.

Another big breakthrough for India A. Moonswamy, who was starting to open up with back-to-back boundaries against Arshdeep, gets his stumps rattled by a quicker one from the pacer. Dian Forrester is the new batter for SA-A.

The first powerplay is over, and, considering the absolute mess they were in at the start, the South African innings has recovered a bit, reaching the half-century mark. Credit must go to Forrester, who has kept up the pressure on the Indian bowlers, getting some runs off Arshdeep.

Spin comes in for India and immediately breaks the partnership. Sindhu's trickery gets the better of Qeshile, and Ishan Kishan takes off the bails to send him pack to the pavilion. Delano Potgieter is the new batter, and he gets off the mark.

What South Africa A need right now is a partnership. In that regard, Potgieter and Forrester are playing it safe, with just one run in the last two overs. India A, meanwhile, have stuck to their guns, with Harshit Rana back on the attack.

This is turning out to be a vital partnership between Forrester and Potgieter. Both players have continued to rotate strike, keeping the run rate at 4.75. India A need another wicket to keep in line with the terrific start they got from Arshdeep and Prasidh.

Dian Forrester brings up a well-deserved fifty, crafting a brilliant innings that balanced composure with aggression. He steadied the innings when needed and attacked when possible, reaching the milestone in just 53 balls.

Harshit Rana misses a sitter at long on. Potgieter tried to slog it past Vipraj for a boundary but couldn’t get enough power, and the ball slips from Harshit’s grasp. Could this prove costly?

The South Africa A innings has picked up pace, and Potgieter reaches his half-century, batting at a strike rate of almost 78, including seven fours. South Africa are on course for a 300-adjacent score if these two bat deep enough.

This is the wicket that India A wanted!! The 113-run partnership is broken as the danger man Forrester goes for 77, getting caught by the keeper after a terrific delivery from Riyan Parag. Bjorn Fortuin is the new batter.

South Africa's innings have now steadied after early jitters and at the end of 36 overs they are reeling at 200-6.

The on-going partnership between Delano Potgieter (77) and Bjorn Fortuin (22) has steadied the ship for South Africa as they will now look to accelerate with only 9 overs remaining.

Potgieter and Fortuin's ongoing 85-run stand is have catapulted South Africa to a competitive position of 251/6 after 45 overs where they can even eye 300 runs with two set batters at crease.

Despite being 53-5, South Africa A sets out a target of 286 runs for India A on the back of half centuries from Forrester (77), Potgieter (70) and Fortuin (59). Arshdeep and Harshit were the pick of Indian bowlers with 2 wickets each.

In response to South Africa's target of 286 runs, India are off to a flyer at 42/0 (6) courtesy Abhishek (23) and Gaikwad (19).

Out....India loses their 1st wicket in the form of Abhishek Sharma who fell off the bowling of Fortuin after playing a quick fire knock of 31 off just 25 deliveries.

India loses their 2nd wicket as Riyan Parag departs on 8 off 10 balls falling to Fortuin who gets his 2nd wicket. Tilak Varma comes to crease.

A healthy partnership brewing between Gaikwad (70*) and Tilak (13*) as India is marches towards the target with 127/2.

South African spinners drying things in the last 7-8 overs resulting in the run-rate climbing over 6 runs per over. Tilak Varma (34) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (84) are still at the crease.

Tilak Varma who was struggling to time the ball finally departs for a scratchy 39 from 58 balls off Ottneil Baartman. Ishan Kishan comes to the crease to join Gaikwad (93*).

India loses Gaikwad and Kishan in quick succession leaving India with 67 runs in 54 balls with two new batters Nitish (3*) and Sandhu (4*) on crease.

Nitish Reddy (21*) and Nishant Sindhu (13*) battling it out against SA A bowlers to take India A home. They need 35 off 30 balls to win.

India A beat South Africa A by four wickets.

Follow the India vs South Africa live score 1st Test Match.