India 'A' beat Pakistan by 89 runs

India beat Pakistan by 89 runs in the Kenstar Asian 'A' teams' tournament at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday.

Electing to bat, India scored 329 for the loss of six wickets in 50 overs on a batsmen-friendly pitch. In reply, Pakistan were all out for 240 in 47.5 overs.

Openers Gautam Gambhir and Sanjay Bangar hit half-centuries each to lay a solid foundation for the Indian innings before Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh plundered runs in the slog overs.

Gambhir, who had struck a fine century in the previous match against Sri Lanka, made 82 with the help of 12 boundaries and a six as Bangar matched his performance by scoring 81 studded with 13 hits to the fence.

With the authoritative display, Gambhir sent a fresh signal to the selectors as he looked a picture of confidence unleashing a flurry of strokes on all sides of the wicket to frustrate Pakistan pacemen A Rouf Khan and Junaid Zia, who got no assistance from the lifeless Eden Gardens track.

The Delhi left-hander picked up Junaid Zia for special treatment in the sixth over of the day, clobbering him for three consecutive boundaries to pick up 13 runs from the over.

Kaif with his 75 off 74 balls (5x4, 1x6) and Yuvraj Singh accumulating 60 from 43 balls (7x4, 1x6) showed good form to take the score near 300.

India A innings
G Gambhir c Junaid Zia b Mansoor Amjad 82
SB Bangar c Amin-ur-Rehman b Naved Latif 81
M Kaif st Amin-ur-Rehman b Mohammad Hafeez 75
HK Badani b Naved Latif 0
Yuvraj Singh c Abdur Rauf b Shahid Afridi 60
D Mongia c Bilal Asad b Mohammad Hafeez 0
SV Bahutule not out 0
A Ratra not out 2
Extras (lb 14, w 9, nb 6) 29
Total (6 wickets, 50 overs) 329

DNB: MM Patel, A Bhandari, Sarandeep Singh.

FOW: 1-154, 2-194, 3-196, 4-317, 5-322, 6-327.

Bowling: Abdur Rauf 5-0-35-0, Junaid Zia 5-0-42-0, Bilal Asad 4-1-29-0, Mohammad Hafeez 7-0-58-2, Shahid Afridi 9-0-49-1, Mansoor Amjad 10-0-51-1, Naved Latif 10-0-51-2.

Pakistan A innings
Imran Nazir b Bhandari 0
Shahid Afridi c Yuvraj Singh b Bhandari 9
Salman Butt c Sarandeep Singh b Bhandari 12
Mohammad Hafeez c Ratra b Patel 13
Faisal Iqbal c Bangar b Bhandari 5
Naved Latif c Sarandeep Singh b Yuvraj Singh 128
Bilal Asad b Bangar 22
Amin-ur-Rehman c Sarandeep Singh b Bahutule 21
Mansoor Amjad lbw b Mongia 12
Junaid Zia c & b Yuvraj Singh 12
Abdur Rauf not out 1
Extras (lb 2, w 2, nb 1) 5
Total (all out, 48 overs) 240

FOW: 1-0, 2-13, 3-26, 4-31, 5-44, 6-72, 7-117, 8-166, 9-223, 10-240.

Bowling: Bhandari 10-1-47-4, Patel 6-0-41-1, Bangar 7-0-40-1, Bahutule 10-2-26-1, Sarandeep Singh 5-2-33-0, Yuvraj Singh 5-0-25-2, Mongia 5-0-26-1.