IND A vs NZ A | Shubman Gill, Hanuma Vihari hold fortĀ as India A secure draw in Christchurch

IND A vs NZ A | Shubman Gill, Hanuma Vihari hold fortĀ as India A secure draw in Christchurch

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India staged a strong comeback in Christchurch to draw the match which was virtually out of their group to take the two-match unofficial Test series to Lincoln for the decider. Shubman Gill and skipper Hanuma Vihari held the fort on the fourth and final day with a double ton and ton respectively.

After three days of utter New Zealand dominance, India A put up a great fight on the final day of the first unofficial Test to save the game. Priyank Panchal (115), Shubman Gill (204*) and skipper Hanuma Vihari (100*) made sure that India played out the fourth day to inflict a draw in Christchurch.

Put to bat first, India had a shaky start before Gill and Vihari steadied the ship but Michael Raeā€™s pace and bounce proved too much for the India A batters as they were bowled out cheaply. Gill and Vihariā€™s half centuries in the first innings made sure India A put up a total of 216.

From the very first ball of their first innings New Zealand A owned the Indian bowling line-up as their top order put up a good fight but it was the batsmen lower the order who dealt majority of the damage. Number 6 batsman Mark Chapman (114) and wicket keeper batsman Dean Cleaver (196), who came in at number 7, build a 268-run partnership to break the visitors dream of winning the game.

Invited to chase down a mammoth lead of 346 to save the game, India lost opener Mayank Agarwal early, who scored his second duck of the game. It was Panchal and Gill who played out the third day with 219 runs adrift to the Kiwis first innings total.

Continuing their good work on the final day, Panchal and Gill put up 167 runs for the third wicket before Panchal holed up Ajaz Patel. His fall brought the first innings heroes of India to the middle as skipper Vihari joined Gill. The duo held off the Kiwi bowling attack to play off the day. In the meantime, Gill brought up his double ton to walk to at 204* while Vihari also rushed to his century as the duo secured a draw for the side.

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