Kiwis surrender to spin, lose 2-0 to India-A

Both Karn Sharma and Shahbaz Nadeem bowled in tandem and more importantly a much better, teasing line and length to trigger a collapse which saw the visitor lose its last seven wickets for a paltry 43 runs.

An all-round show from India-A helped it to a 2-0 win in the the two-match series against New Zealand-A.

The spin duo of leggie Karn Sharma and left-armer Shahbaz Nadeem bowled India-A to an innings and 26-run win over New Zealand-A in the four-day second Test match at Mulapadu Cricket Complex here on Tuesday.

For the visitor, Henry Nicholls played a captain's knock but turned out to be the lone warrior as others around him showed no spine against the spinners.

Read: India's all-round brilliance sealed series, says M.S.K Prasad

Resuming at the overnight score of 104 for one, New Zealand looked good when opener Jeet Raval and Nicholls put on 105 runs for the second wicket before the former was sent back – trapped lbw on the backfoot trying to play a half-hearted pull off left-arm spinner Nadeem in the 12th over of the day.

Even at lunch, the Kiwis were sitting pretty at 167 for three with Nicholls going strong. Although a draw did look imminent at noon, a collapse after the break saw the visitor lose its last seven wickets for a paltry 43 runs.

Both Karn and Nadeem bowled in tandem and more importantly a much better, teasing line and length. And, to the delight of the home team, Nicholls, six short of a hundred, failed to resist the temptation of going for a big shot off Karn and ended up giving a catch to the fielder in the deep, hastening the end of the Kiwi innings.

Karn returned with a five-wicket haul and Nadeem, always a trier every time he is given a chance to showcase his mettle, picked four wickets to share the spoils.

With this win, India-A wrapped up the two-match series 2-0 and the two teams will now play a 5-ODI series in Vizag from October 6.

National cricket selection committee chairman M.S.K Prasad, who watched the last two days of action here, lauded the India-A performance and said the win was a reminder of the kind of bench strength available. "Hats off to Rahul (Dravid) for shaping the destiny of this young talent so well," he said about the head-coach.

He also complimented the chief curator Yella Rao and his groundstaff for preparing beautiful pitches and the outfield for the two matches.