Zaheer's struggle continues, ton for Brathwaite as match ends in draw

Opener Kraigg Brathwaite continued his good run with another splendid century while Narasingh Deonaraine cracked a flamboyant 93 as the second unofficial Test between India 'A' and West Indies 'A' ended in a tame draw in Shimoga, on Saturday.

West Indies 'A' reached 223 for three in 81 overs in their second innings when the umpires decided to call off the match due to bad light around 3.30 pm local time.

The visitors had made 406 in their first innings, while India 'A' replied with 359, conceding a slender 47-run lead to the visitors.

For West Indies 'A', Brathwaite top-scored with 104 not out, while Deonaraine delighted the crowd with some aggressive shots during his 93-run innings before he was trapped leg before wicket by left-arm spinner Bharghav Bhatt.

Brathwaite, who made a patient 84 from 202 deliveries in the first essay, continued to frustrate the Indian bowlers with another composed knock.

The left-handed Guyanese batsman did not get much support from Kieran Powell and captain Kirk Edwards as the visitors were in trouble early in their second innings at 43 for two.

It was Deonaraine, who joined Brathwaite at this stage to script a 144-run partnership for the third wicket and take the match to safety.

While Brathwaite hit 15 boundaries in his 247-ball knock, Deonaraine faced 142 balls, hitting 13 fours and two sixes.

For the hosts, Bhatt bowled superbly to take two for 104 in 27.1 overs, while India discard Zaheer Khan grabbed one in the second innings to make it two wickets in the match.

Bhatt, who had claimed seven wickets in the first innings, packed off Deonaraine and Edwards leg before for 93 and 2, respectively.

Zaheer bagged the wicket of out-of-form Powell for 14, getting him caught behind by wicketkeeper Uday Kaul.

The veteran pacer bowled two spells but could not make any impression on a slow pitch. In the first spell, he bowled five overs and got one wicket for 10 runs and later in the second, he bowled three overs for 11 runs.

Resuming at their overnight score of 28 for no loss, the West Indians began the day disastrously losing two quick wickets.

The Indian bowlers utilised the morning conditions well to remove the overnight batsmen with some tidy bowling.

Edwards and Powell, both of whom have been picked in the West Indies Test squad India series next month, would have been eager to get some match practice but failed to last long.

Scoreboard:

West Indies 'A' 1st Innings: 406 all out

India 'A' 1st Innings: 359 all out

West Indies 'A' 2nd Innings: (Overnight score: 28/0):
Kraigg Brathwaite (not out) 104 (288m, 247b, 15x4)
Kieran Powell c Kaul b Zaheer (67m, 47b, 2x4)
Kirk Edwards lbw Bhatt 2 (5m, 3b)
Narsingh Deonarine lbw Bhatt 93 (162m, 143b, 13x4, 2x6)
Asad Fudadin (not out) 3 (52m, 48b)

Extras (b:2, lb:3, w:1, nb:1) 7

Total (for three wickets, 81 overs) 223.

Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-43, 3-187.

Bowling: Zaheer Khan 13-4-27-1, Mohammad Shami 8-4-25-0, Parvez Rasool 27-10-39-0, Bhargav Bhatt 27-104-2, Abhishek Nayar 1-0-12-0, V Jagadish 5-1-11-0.