India A defeated West Indies A by eight wickets on Sunday to bag the five-match one-day series 4-1. Having lost the previous game, the visitors bounced back in style with a complete performance at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua.
Set a target of just 237, India A coasted to victory with their top three getting half-centuries. Any hope that the hosts had of stealing a win were put to rest by opener Shubman Gill’s blazing knock. Hours after being ignored by the selectors for the senior squads that will tour the Caribbean, the 19-year-old smacked a 40-ball 69 to remind everyone what he’s capable of.
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Electing to bat first, West Indies A had an opening stand of 77 with Sunil Ambris going on to score 61 off 52. But the rest of their top-order crumbled before No 7 batsman Sherfane Rutherford got a 70-ball 65 to lend some respectability to the hosts’ total.
Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini and Rahul Chahar celebrated their first call-up to the senior team by picking two wickets each as West Indies A were bowled out for 236 in 47.4 overs.
India A made short work of the chase with their top three taking the Windies attack to task. Opener Ruturaj Gaikwad missed out on a well-deserved century as he was dismissed for 99 off 89. Shreyas Iyer, who will make a comeback for the senior team against the West Indies next month, was unbeaten on 61 off 64 at No 3.
The standout batsman for the visitors, though, was Gill. The right-hander slammed eight fours and three sixes in his innings and was declared the player of the tournament for his 218 runs in the four matches that he played.
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