India A vs West Indies A: All-round Yuvraj Singh, Rahul Sharma give huge win in one-off T20

India A won the toss ans chose to bat in the one-off Twenty20 game against the touring West Indies A side here at Bangalore on Saturday.

Having suffered two defeats in the row after having won the toss and choosing to bowl, Yuvraj Singh opted to bat at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

 

West Indies innings!

 

And India win the one-off Twenty20 match by 93 runs! Rahul Sharma completed a fine five-wicket haul with Beaton's wicket and wrapped up the West Indian innings for 121. Yuvraj though was the star of the day with his quick fifty and couple of crucial wickets.

 

WICKET! Marching toward victory here India A as Vinay Kumar's short ball removes Veerasammy Permaul for 1, caught by Unmukt Chand again. 120/9 after 16 overs.

 

WICKET! It is all but over now as Rahul Sharma grabs his third and fourth wickets to remove Ashley Nurse for 16 and Devon Thomas for 21 in the same over. Robin Uthappa took an easy catch at long-on to dismiss Nurse while Naman Ojha took a smart catch to remove Thomas. West Indies A now 118/8 in 15 overs.

 

WICKET! Yuvraj gets his second to leave West Indies A reeling at 80/6 after 9 overs. Andre Russell is the one who holes out to Unmukt Chand, goes for 12 off 5.

 

ANOTHER WICKET! Disastrous collapse for the West Indies A side. Andre Fletcher looked in good touch for his 32 off 22 before trying a sweep off Rahul Sharma. He left his leg stump exposed though and is clean bowled. Score 77/5 after 8 overs. Andre Russell and Devon Thomas at the crease.

 

WICKET! Seems wickets going down in heaps here, late on for India, early for West Indies who are in trouble now at 63/4 after 7 overs. The last one to go Jonathan Carter for 6 off 6 as Yuvraj Singh gets him caught by Aparajith at deep mid-wicket just after the West Indian had smacked the left-arm bowler for a six.

 

WICKET! Rahul Sharma strikes very early to leave Windies three down. Kirk Edwards probably hitting out a bit too soon, goes for first ball duck. Yusuf Pathan took a tumbling catch at mid-off. Score is 55/3 after the powerplay of 6 overs.

WICKET! Nkrumah Bonner caught brilliantly by Unmukt Chand running backwards. The West Indian was looking dangerous in his cameo of 18 from 11 balls. Jaydev Unadkat's slower ball works again. West Indies A 50/2 after 5 overs.

 

WICKET! West Indies batsmen - Kieran Powell, Andre Fletcher - hit Yusuf Pathan for 19 in the very first over. Skipper Powell (8 off 3) though holes out in the deep off Vinay Kumar, who just gave 3 runs in his first over! West Indies A 22/1 in 2 overs.

 

India's innings!

 

End of 20 overs, India A score a daunting 214/7! Despite Russell's hat-trick, India A manage a huge total as Sumit Narwal hit few lusty blows in the last over by Beaton. He got 18 off 7.

 

ANOTHER WICKET! Yusuf Pathan goes too. 4 in 4 for Andre Russell. Another hoick and taken at long-on. 189/7!

 

HAT-TRICK! Andre Russell is the man for West Indies. He gets Naman Ojha first ball, holes out in the deep. What a hat-trick! 189/6!

 

WICKET! Yuvraj departs for 52, mistimed short-arm jab off Andre Russell caught by skipper Kieran Powell. 189/5 in 18.2 overs.

 

WICKET! Kedar Jadhav goes for 42 off 21. What a stupendous knock by the diminutive right-hander. Yusuf Pathan replaces him at the crease.

50 for Yuvraj! Came off 33 balls. A skipper's knock by the dashing left-hander. India A 189/3 after 18 overs.

After 17 overs, India A go strong at 174/3! Yuvraj Singh and Kedar Jadhav have not only shielded their wickets but also bashed a few around. Jadhav is on 40 off 18 (4 fours and 2 sixes) and Yuvraj on 41 off 30 (3 fours and 2 sixes).

WICKET! There is a procession of some sorts here as Baba Aparajith too falls, again to off-spinner Ashley Nurse. He scored just 3. A soft dismissal to short mid-wicket Kirk Edwards. India A 110/3 in 12 overs as Kedar Jadhav replaces Aparajith.

WICKET! Unmukt Chand follows Uthappa into the pavilion for 47 off 29, trying to hit offie Ashley Nurse too hard and Kirk Edwards running back to complete a fine catch. India A 94/2 in 10 overs as Baba Aparajith comes in to join Yuvraj, who is on 6 off 10.

WICKET! Robin Uthappa goes, lbw off Veerasammy Permaul for 35 off 21, just after the mandatory powerplay. India 74/1 in 7 overs as Yuvraj Singh comes in to bat.

After 6 overs, India A on 70/0! India A raced off to a rollicking start with Unmukt Chand and Robin Uthappa slamming the bowlers Ronsford Beaton and Andre Russell all over the park in the first three overs, which cost West Indies 35 runs. Left-arm spinner Nikita Miller was then introduced early as West Indians looked to make inroads. Unmukt is batting on 32 off 18 with the help of 4 fours and a six while Uthappa is on 32 off 18 which includes a boundary and 3 sixes as India A score 70 in the mandatory powerplay. Unmukt also got a life off left-arm tweaker Veerasammy Permaul's bowling as he was put down by Miller at deep mid-wicket boundary when on 22.

The surprise loss in the unofficial ODI series against the West Indies side, it will be an opportunity now for the Yuvraj Singh-led team to make an impression in the one-off game.

The key for the hosts once again will be Yuvraj, who has had a remarkable success with the willow in the 50-over format, slamming an 89-ball century and following that up with knocks of 40 and 61 in the last two matches.

As a whole, India have performed reasonably with the bat. While Yuvraj and Yusuf Pathan managed to get some runs under their belt, the hosts have been hugely let down by opener Robin Uthappa's form as the India discard could manage only 23, 10 and 27 in the three ODIs.

The West Indies, on the other hand, have backed on individual brilliance to stun India A till now. While Jonathan Carter hit a ton when his team was down in the dumps in the second game, it was Kirk Edwards in the third match with a sparkling century to deflate Yuvraj and co.

Miguel Cummins, Veerasammy Permaul, Nikita Miller all have been among wickets and if all-rounders Carter and Russel also come good with the ball, the team has the arsenal to tame India.

(Wit PTI inputs)