Senior batsman Suresh Raina hit a strokeful century to help India A outplay Bangladesh A by 75 runs via the D/L method in the third unofficial rain-hit ODI and clinch the series 2-1, in Bangalore on Sunday.
Electing to bat, the Unmukt Chand-led side rode on Raina’s 104-run knock to post 297 for six in 50 overs. The bowlers then restricted the visitors for 141 for six in 32 overs when rain halted play for the second and final time.
The first rain interruption saw the chasing target being revised to 290 runs in 46 overs, while the second and final rain halt saw a mathematical revision of 217 runs in 32 overs.
Karnataka left-arm seamer Sreenath Aravind celebrated his India seniors call-up with two crucial scalps. But it was the batting that did the trick for India A as Unmukt (41) stitched an 82-run second-wicket partnership with wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson (90) to give the team a solid start after losing opener Mayank Agarwal (4) early.
Raina, who is getting ready for the South Africa series, was under a bit of pressure after getting 16 and 17 runs in the first and second match respectively, rose to the occasion with his 94-ball knock, laced with 9 fours and a six.
The left-hander’s 116-run third-wicket partnership with Samson also stood out. This was Raina’s sixth List A century.
The team saw a bit of a stutter in the middle but No 7 batsman Rishi Dhawan fisnished off the innings in style with an unbeaten 51-ball 26 to help the hosts put up a challenging score.
In reply, the Mominul Haque-led side were never in the chase, as they lost regular wickets. The middle-order tried to play savior, but the batsmen failed to convert their starts into bigger scores.
Sabbir Rahman top-scored with an unbeatan 41, but the match was already lost by then. Aravind (2-14) two wickets in Rony Talukdar (9) and Anamul Haque (1) were followed by two scalps by chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav (2-29) that finally broke the back of tehe Bangladesh A chase.