Dinda helps India A level series against West Indies A
Ashok Dinda, the medium-pacer, was the star as India A came from behind to win the second Twenty20 match against West Indies A in the Super Over at the Queen's Park Oval at Port of Spain on Sunday. With the win, the Indians levelled the two-match series 1-1.
- Wisden India Staff
- Updated: June 25, 2012 02:44 PM IST
Ashok Dinda, the medium-pacer, was the star as India A came from behind to win the second Twenty20 match against West Indies A in the Super Over at the Queen's Park Oval at Port of Spain on Sunday. With the win, the Indians levelled the two-match series 1-1.
Chasing 155 for victory after India A posted 154 for five, West Indies A needed just three runs off the last over, bowled by Dinda, and then only one run from the last three balls. Nkrumer Bonner, the opening batsman who scored a sparkling 82, was at the crease when Dinda was handed the ball. Bonner was odds-on favourite to knock off the runs, but Dinda sent him back off the third delivery after conceding two runs off the first two balls. Christopher Barnwell, the allrounder, then couldn't put bat to ball for the remainder of the over as the game ended in a tie.
Dinda wasn't done yet, and conceded just five runs in the Super Over that followed. India A, too, had some tense moments in the Super Over as Rohit Sharma was run out off the first ball. But two wides and a boundary from Shikhar Dhawan took India home.
Earlier, put in to bat, Ajinkya Rahane (53) and Dhawan (33), the two openers, laid the foundation for India A with a solid 61-run stand in 10 overs. After Dhawan and Rohit were dismissed, Rahane and Manoj Tiwary (17) forged a vital 64-run stand for the fourth wicket to help India A reach a competitive total.
But West Indies A could well have sealed the win. Bonner put on 72 in nine overs for the first wicket with Kieran Powell, who made 34, to put the home team on course before Dinda's heroics in the last over and in the Super Over changed the script of the match.
The two sides head to St George's in Grenada for a series of three 50-over games next, the first scheduled for June 29.