India A pacer Ishwar Pandey took four wickets, including two in successive balls, but South Africa A fought back through J.P. Duminy’s fighting 84 and his crucial partnerships with the tail-enders in the first unofficial Test, here on Monday.
Chips were down for the home side after losing five wickets in the first two session but Duminy combined with Thami Tsolekile (47) to take South Africa A to 312/9 at the end of the third day’s play. Duminy and Tsolekile’s fightback in the post-tea session, in which they raised a 86-run stand for the seventh wicket, prevented India from wrapping up the first innings of the hosts itself.
Before this, Duminy had raised another fighting 75-run stand for the sixth wicket with Justin Ontong, who scored 47 off 82 balls. Pandey (4/40) did a fantastic job for India as he broke both the partnerships which frustrated Indian camp. Suresh Raina took two wickets, including that of Duminy, with his spin bowling.
The hosts are still 270 runs behind India’s total of 582/9 declared and they will have to bat through on Tuesday to save the match. Resuming at 20/1, South Africa were straring down the barrel as they were reduced to 280/6 by tea but Duminy and Tsolekile presented a good fight against Indians in the last session of the day.
South Africa lost Duminy in the last over of the day when Raina had him caught behind. With his dismissal, the umpires ended the day’s play. Duminy’s 84 came off 222 balls with nine boundaries. Duminy and Tsolekile had frustrated the Indians for close to 26 overs but Pandey broke their stand by having the latter caught by Shikhar Dhawan. In the next ball he caught Wayne Parnell in his follow through.
Scores: India A 582/9 decl. vs South Africa A 312/9 (J.P. Duminy 84, J. Ontong 47, T. Tsolekile 47, R. Rossouw 57, I. Pandey 4/40)