India 'A' registers win against Zimbabwe XI

Harare: Riding on a fine performance by skipper Sairaj Bahutule, India 'A' defeated Zimbabwe Select XI by nine wickets in their first four-day cricket match in Harare. The touring India 'A' side posted 420 in their first innings and then bowled out the home team, which included most of the players who have represented the national squad in recent years, for 259 and 208. Leg-spinner Bahutule ripped through the Zimbabwean line-up in both the innings to finish with a match haul of 10 wickets for 114 runs at the Harare Sports Club ground. Bahutule took 6 for 43 in the second innings. The Indians had no trouble in overhauling the modest target of 48 runs, losing just the wicket of opener Gautam Gambhir en route the win. In their first innings, the tourist were given a great start by their openers Gautam Gambhir (103) and Dhiraj Jadhav (93) with the former scoring the only century of the match. Wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik scored a quickfire 96 to get the team out of a mid innings slump and take the score past the 400-run mark. Elton Chingumbura, who recently played the home series against Sri Lanka and Australia, was the pick of the Zimbabwean batsmen, scoring 57 and 71 in the two innings. Mumbai pacer Aavishkar Salvi, making a comeback after injury, returned with a match haul of 5 for 94 while Munaf Patel bagged a total of three wickets from the two innings. (AP)

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