India A declare on 464 for 5 and strike twice as New Zealand A stumble in Lincoln

India A declared on 464 for 5 at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval and had New Zealand A two wickets down inside the opening hour of the reply

Dhruv Jurel called his batters in after 146 overs on the second afternoon of the third unofficial Test in Lincoln, ending an innings assembled either side of a long rain delay on the opening day.

New Zealand A reached 36 for 2 from 13.1 overs in the evening session, still 428 runs adrift with more than two days of the match left to play.

The innings was anchored by Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan on the first day and carried past 450 by the middle order on the second.

Jaiswal and Sudharsan set the platform

New Zealand A won the toss and chose to bowl, and India A were 83 for 0 at lunch on the opening day without ever looking hurried on a surface that offered the seamers little.

Jaiswal reached fifty from 87 balls and his hundred from 127, finishing with 102 from 138 balls with 16 fours and two sixes. It was his second century in consecutive innings on the tour.

He was treated for cramp shortly after reaching three figures and was caught at mid-off off Danru Ferns, who had figures of 1 for 16 at the close of the first day. Matthew Boyle had earlier put him down at first slip off Jarrod McKay.

The opening stand was worth 175, and it shaped everything that followed. Sudharsan took the slower route, reaching his fifty from 129 balls before going on to 88.

Devdutt Padikkal was the other man out on the opening day, making 15 from 53 balls.

Rain cuts the opening day short

More than 20 overs were lost to the weather on day one, with play ending roughly an hour early and India A on 227 for 2 from 69.3 overs.

Jurel, who is keeping wicket as well as captaining the side, was 12 not out overnight alongside Sudharsan.

The lost time mattered less than it might have. India A simply batted on, adding 237 runs on the second day for the loss of three wickets.

Tilak Varma carries the second day

India A were 396 for 5 at tea on the second afternoon, with Tilak Varma 44 not out and Washington Sundar 19 not out, three wickets having gone down for 169 since the overnight score.

Tilak moved to his fifty shortly after the interval, and the pair were still together when the declaration came, taking the total on from 408 for 5 to 464 for 5 without being separated.

The innings came at a shade over three runs an over, which left Jurel the balance of the second day and the whole of the third and fourth to bowl New Zealand A out twice.

A full-strength attack for the last red-ball outing

Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja were both added to the India A side for this match, the third and final unofficial Test of the series.

Their presence gives Jurel an attack far stronger than a second-string fixture would ordinarily carry, alongside the seam and spin options already on the tour.

It also gives both men red-ball overs in New Zealand conditions, which is the larger point of a fixture of this kind so late in a tour.

New Zealand A lose two before the close

The hosts lost two wickets inside the first 13.1 overs of their reply, leaving them 36 for 2 at the evening interval and facing the better part of two days of batting to save the match.

The four-day match at Lincoln runs to Tuesday, and on the evidence of the first two days New Zealand A will need considerably more patience than they have shown so far.

Scorecard: India A 464 for 5 declared (146 overs) — Yashasvi Jaiswal 102, Sai Sudharsan 88, Devdutt Padikkal 15; New Zealand A 36 for 2 (13.1 overs), trailing by 428 runs.