Ruturaj Gaikwad blended poise with precision, crafting a sublime 117 that powered India-A to a six-wicket win over South Africa-A in the first one-day match at the Niranjan Shah Stadium on Thursday.
Gaikwad struck 12 fours during his knock before Tiaan Van Vuuren cleaned him up when he attempted another, with the team still 68 runs short. However, Nitish Kumar Reddy (37) and Nishant Sindhu’s (29 not out) quick cameos took the team home with three balls to spare.
RECAP | India-A vs South Africa-A 1st unofficial One-Day
Nitish got going with a cracking cover drive and soon launched spinner Bjorn Fortuin for a six over long-on. Sindhu supported him with neat pulls and drives. Their 65-run association ensured South Africa-A, which often fumbled in the field, never found a way back.
Chasing 286, India-A began briskly through Gaikwad and Abhishek Sharma, who added 64 for the opening wicket. Abhishek’s attacking 31 off 25 balls set the tone before he fell to Fortuin. Riyan Parag departed early, but Gaikwad steadied the innings with skipper Tilak Varma.
Gaikwad hit a run-a-ball fifty and continued to rotate strike while punishing loose deliveries. The pair added 89 for the third wicket before Tilak’s scratchy 39 ended with a top-edged pull. Gaikwad completed a fluent century off 118 balls, bringing it up with a pull over midwicket and followed it with an upper cut for four.
Ishan Kishan chipped in with a short cameo before the lower middle order wrapped up the chase in the last over.
Earlier, South Africa-A recovered from 16 for four to post 285 for nine, thanks to Delano Potgieter’s 90 and Dian Forrester’s 77. Their 113-run stand for the fifth-wicket revived the innings after a fiery burst from Arshdeep Singh (2/59) and Prasidh Krishna (1/57) had tore through the top order.
But the effort wasn’t enough to stop India-A from taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Published on Nov 13, 2025