Middle-order batsman Omphile Ramela struck an attractive century as South Africa A dominated India A by posting a comfortable 293 for four on the opening day of the first unofficial cricket ‘Test’, here on Tuesday.
Riding on left-hander Ramela’s 112 off 197 balls, South Africa A dictated terms after their skipper Dane Vilas decided to bat first at the picturesque Stadium located in the hilly region of Krishnagiri.
The other two notable scorers were opener Reeza Hendricks, who hit 50, while Temba Bavuma was unbeaten on 55 off 117 deliveries with seven boundaries to his credit.
In fact, Ramela-Bavuma duo added 136 runs for the fourth wicket in nearly 40 overs (39.5 overs).
Ramela, who hit his fifth first-class century in his 75th game had 12 boundaries and three sixes to his credit. He was particularly severe on off-spinner Jayant Yadav (1/88 in 24 overs) hitting him for a few sixes. He batted for close to four hours for his ton.
limited overs specialist Axar Patel was the most successful bowler with figures of 2/52 in 24 overs while seamer Ishwar Pandey got a wicket.
Patel, who bowled eight maidens, however, did not show much variation to trouble the batsmen and both his wickets were primarily a result of the mistakes committed by the batsmen.
After a nightmarish tri-series, during which they lost all four round robin matches, the Proteas gave a far better account of themselves on Day 1.
Hendricks, whose 50 had seven fours and two sixes, added 60 in 20 overs for the opening stand with fellow opener Stiaan van Zyl (28).
Hero of the day Ramela entered the crease at the fall of Hendricks’ wicket and added 57 for the third wicket with an attacking Theunis de Bruyn whose 38 had seven fours.
Once De Bruyn was caught by Vijay Shankar off Patel, Ramela and Bavuma played cautiously but at the same time punished the loose deliveries.
The Indian bowling lacked the sting and the Wayanad pitch also helped the South African batsmen’s strokeplay.
Brief Scores
South Africa A: 293/4 (Omphile Ramela 112, Hendricks 50, Bavuma 55*; Axar Patel 2/52) vs India A.
learned a lot from gavaskar sir: agarwal
New Delhi: The Man of the Series performance in his maiden India A appearance has been a “turnaround” of sorts for Mayank Agarwal, who feels that tips from the likes of Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid during the tri-series will go a long way in shaping up his fledgling career.
Agarwal earned his A call-up with a strong showing for Karnataka in the one-day competitions but it was not before he was dropped from the Ranji Trophy side.
“Yes you can say it is a bit of a turnaround. I have got to understand my game a lot better in the last six to eight months. I think the transition started in September last year and slowly I got to understand my game better and work on my gameplan,” Agarwal said.
The 24-year-old amassed 409 runs in five innings in the tri-series with the highlight of his stellar effort being back-to-back hundreds against SA A.
While he picked Dravid’s brain throughout the tournament, Agarwal said a brief chat with Gavaskar too did him a world of good.
“I was lucky enough to spend sometime with Gavaskar sir. It was after our first league game against South Africa. He told me he always looked to bat out a session. Things like how to face the fast bowlers across formats. It meant a great deal as he is one of the best we have had,” said Agarwal.