In stark contrast to how the first unofficial Test began for them in Lincoln, India A dominated proceedings on the opening day of the third unofficial Test on Saturday (November 7). Leading the way was Yashasvi Jaiswal, who backed up his unbeaten 155 in Christchurch with another hundred, while Sai Sudharsan remained unbeaten on 77. The opening pair forged a 175-run stand to underline India A’s dominance, before rain forced an early end to play halfway through the 70th over.

Unlike the senior white-ball team, India A’s luck with the toss continued to be a wretched one as they were asked to bat first. The visitors rang in multiple changes, most notably in the form of Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and Prasidh Krishna with an eye on the Test series beginning November 19. There was some assistance for the pacers and while Jaiswal and Sudharsan started slowly, they looked to score whenever opportunities presented themselves. Jaiswal in particular walked down the pitch quite often to negate the swing on offer.

After negotiating the first hour, Jaiswal broke free with three fours off a Jarrod McKay over. He moved along at a decent clip despite the New Zealanders bowling tight as India A got through to Lunch unscathed. There were some nervy moments at the start of the second session as Jaiswal was beaten thrice on 49, but he creamed one to the fence to bring up his fifty.

A pivotal moment in the game saw Matthew Boyle put down a straightforward chance at slip with Jaiswal on 54. The left-hander rubbed salt into the hosts’ wounds as he immediately responded with a hat-trick of fours, before clattering a six off Zak Gibson a couple of overs later. While he continued to reel off the boundaries, Sudharsan ground out a half-century, taking 129 balls to reach the landmark. Jaiswal soon raised his hundred off just 127 balls with consecutive boundaries, before he needed the physio’s attention for what seemed like a cramp. He soon chipped one to mid-off, bringing his knock to a close on 102.

The scoring rate slowed down after Tea, with Devdutt Padikkal taking time to get himself in while Sudharsan continued to remain dogged at his end. Padikkal was beaten on a couple of occasions, before falling for 15 as McKay drew the edge off an attempted booming drive. Captain Dhruv Jurel struck a boundary but nine deliveries after the drinks break, the heavens opened up to bring play to a halt for the day. For New Zealand A, pacer Danru Ferns emerged as the pick of the bowlers, giving away just 16 runs from 10 overs while accounting for Jaiswal’s wicket.

Brief Scores: India A 227/2 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 102, Sai Sudharsan 77*; Danru Ferns 1-16, Jarrod McKay 1-45) vs New Zealand A.