Thiruvananthapuram: South Africa A pulled off a narrow four-run win over India A in the rain-marred fourth unofficial ODI in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday. The series currently stands ar 3-1.
The match initially started on Wednesday but was extended to Thursday due to persistent rains. Opting to bowl in a 43 overs per side match due to wet outfield, play was only possible for 25 overs as rain continued to play spoilsport when the Proteas were at 137/1.
The match, however, got reduced to 25 overs as India were handed a revised target of 193 runs (D/L method). Apart from Hendricks, Matthew Breetzke, skipper Temba Bavuma, and Heinrich Klaasen had chipped in with 25, 28 and 21 runs respectively.
Chasing the huge target, the hosts were off to a poor start, losing opener Shubman Gill (12) cheaply with just 13 runs on board. Senior batsman and experienced opener Shikhar Dhawan then took control of the proceedings as he along with Prashant Chopra (26) forged a 79-run partnership for the second wicket.
The play was again halted when India were 56/1 in 7.4 overs as the contest was shifted for Thursday.
The duo looked good in the middle, however, right-arm pacer Lutho Sipamla (3/55) came with a breakthrough for the visitors as he dismissed Chopra in the 13th over when India were eight-run short of the three-digit mark.
Marco Jansen (3/25) further jolted the hosts as he accounted for the wicket of a well-settled Dhawan (52 off 43), reducing India to 110/3. Shreyas Iyer (26) and Shivam Dube (31) then shared a 51-run partnership to repair the damage. However, as soon as Dube became a victim of pacer Anrich Nortje (3/36) in the 21st over when India were at 161, the other batsman too followed him as the hosts lost five-wicket under another 17 runs.
Rahul Chahar tried his best to help India cross the line with his 12-ball unbeaten 17 but it wasn't enough as the visitors clinched the issue by four runs.
Both the sides will square-off for the fifth and final time in the series here on Friday.
