Andre Russell took four wickets in four deliveries but his effort went in vain as India 'A' riding on Yuvraj Singh's half-century and Rahul Sharma's five-wicket haul registered a crushing 93-run win in the one-off Twenty20 match against the West Indies 'A' in Bangalore, on Saturday.
The hosts posted a mammoth 214 for seven in their 20 overs, before bowling out the visitors for just 121 in 16.3 overs, which witnessed Russell creating a record in List A cricket as he grabbed four wickets in as many balls in a sensational bowling effort.
Yuvraj slammed a quickfire 35-ball 52, hitting four boundaries and three sixes, before he claimed two wickets with the ball with his slow left-arm spin. Both Unmukt Chand (47 off 29) and Kedar Jadhav (42 off 21) belted four fours and two sixes each in their brisk knocks.
With the ball, leg-spinner Rahul was by far the most impressive bowler, returning impressive figures of five for 23 on a pitch where his team mates plundered runs at will. West Indies had won the unofficial ODI series 2-1.
Earlier, after being carted around by the Indian batsmen, the West Indies 'A', albeit a little too late into the innings, found their man in Russell who dismissed Jadhav, Yuvraj (52), Naman Ojha (0) and Yusuf Pathan (0) in the first four deliveries of the penultimate over.
The damage had, however, been done by then as the hosts closed in on 200. Seeking to make a comeback to the Indian team, Yuvraj put on a handy 80-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Jadhav, capitalising on a good start given by Uthappa and Chand for the first wicket. The opening duo put on 74 runs in 6.4 overs before they were separated.
The left-handed Yuvraj was merciless against some wayward bowling and played shots at will before he was caught by Kieran Powell at midwicket.
Jadhav, who was sent into bat ahead of Yusuf, did not disappoint. Initially, he even outscored Yuvraj and was a treat to watch as he collected runs with his lofted and ground shots.
The Maharashtra batsman fell to Russell after he mistimed a lofted shot. Other wicket-takers for West Indies were Ashley Nurse (2 for 18) and Veerasammy Permaul (1 for 35).
Electing to bat, India got off to an excellent start as Uthappa and Chand, who looked out of sorts in the ODI series, played positively.
The duo matched each other stroke for stroke and were not not afraid to take the aerial route. Just when the opening stand was looking ominous, Uthappa was trapped leg before off an arm ball by Veerasammy Permaul in the seventh over.
Three overs later, Chand was caught at midwicket by Kirk Edwards off Nurse. Nurse again struck, dismissing Baba Aparajith for three as he gave a straight catch to Edwards at midwicket, leaving India at 109 for three. Yuvraj and Jadhav then propelled India 'A' to a big total.
Yuvraj also played a key role with the ball. Coming on to bowl with the visitors struggling at 55 for three in six overs, the host skipper soon made an impact as he packed off the in-form Jonathan Carter (6) and the dangerous Russell (12).
The West Indies 'A' soon collapsed with as many as 22 balls left in the innings.
The Indian bowlers came hard at West Indian batsmen and did not give them much room to score. Captain Powell (6) and Bonner (18) lost their wickets while trying to pull short deliveries from R Vinay Kumar and Jaydev Unadkat.
Rahul had Kirk Edwards caught by Pathan. The leggie then removed Andre Fletcher, Nurse, Devon Thomas and Beaton in his four-over spell.
Scoreboard:
India 'A'
Robin Uthappa lbw b Permaul35
Unmukt Chand c Edwards b Nurse47
Yuvraj Singh c Powell b Russell52
Baba Aparajith c Edwards b Nurse 3
Kedar Jadhav c Bonner b Russell42
Yusuf Pathan c Fletcher b Russell 0
Naman Ojha c Permaul b Russell 0
Sumit Narwal not out18
R Vinay Kumar not out 1
Extras: (LB-1 W-15)16
Total: (For 7 wkts in 20 overs)214
Fall of wickets: 1-74, 2-94, 3-109, 4-189, 5-189, 6-189, 7-189.
Bowling: Ronsford Beaton 4-0-58-0, Andre Russell 4-0-45-4, Nikita Miller 2-0-28-0, Veerasammy Permaul 4-0-35-1, Ashley Nurse 4-0-18-2, Nkrumah Bonner 2-0-29-0.
West Indies 'A'
Andre Fletcher b Sharma 32
Kieran Powell c Jadhav b Vinay Kumar 8
Nkrumah Bonner c Chand b Unadkat 18
Kirk Edwards c Pathan b Sharma 0
Jonathan Carter c Aparajith b Yuvraj Singh 6
Devon Thomas c Ojha b Sharma 21
Andre Russell c Chand b Yuvraj Singh 12
Ashley Nurse c Uthappa b Sharma 16
Veerasammy Permaul c Chand b Vinay Kumar 1
Nikita Miller not out 4
Ronsford Beaton c Unadkat b Sharma 0
Extras (LB-1, W-2) 3
Total (all out in 16.2 overs) 121
Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-49, 3-55, 4-62, 5-65, 6-80, 7-115, 8-117, 9-119, 10-121.
Bowling: Yusuf Pathan 1-0-19-0; R Vinay Kumar 3-0-22-2; Jaydev Unadkat 2-0-11-1; Rahul Sharma 3.2-0-23-5; Yuvraj Singh 4-0-24-2; Sumit Narwal 3-0-21-0.
Photograph: BCCI
