West Indies A thrash India A by 125 runs to level series

Left-arm seamer Delorn Johnson and skipper Veeraswamy Permaul wreaked havoc as they helped West Indies A thrash India A by 125 runs to level the 3-match 'Test' series 1-1 here on Tuesday.

Chasing a target of 220, spineless batting by Gen-Next saw India A being bundled out for a paltry 94 as Johnson (6/34) and Permaul (4/22) shared the spoils.

Permaul had impressive match-figures of nine for 80 to show for his efforts while Johnson returned with figures of eight for 62.

Such was the domination of the Caribbean duo that the match ended well before lunch on the final day with India A losing six wickets for 37 runs.

The 6 feet 7 inches tall pacer troubled India A batsmen as he extracted sharp bounce and bowled at a good pace while left-arm spinner Permaul got a lot of purchase from the wicket with the odd-ball keeping low and the rough patches assisting in turning the deliveries.

Starting the day at 57 for four, a lot depended on the pair of Rohit Sharma and Manoj Tiwary. Rohit started with a lofted boundary but then got a delivery that kept very low as he went on the backfoot. Rohit was dismissed for 13.

Wicketkeeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha (0) then got a beautiful arm-ball which he padded up to be adjudged plumb in-front. Rahul Sharma was the next man dismissed.

Johnson softened him up with a snorter and then bowled a full pitched outswinger which the batsmen guided into the hands of the wicketkeeper as the pacer got his maiden five-for in first-class cricket.

At 68 for seven, the end was near and Tiwary ran out of patience as he pushed hard at a Permaul delivery which was gleefully accepted by Jonathan Carter standing in the second slip. India were 70 for eight.

Akashay Darekar, Shami Ahmed and Ashok Dinda failed to delay the inevitable.