Yousuf Pathan at his Phenomenal Best; New Zealand A at Receiving End

Indian fans were deprived of a real thrilled of a game as the television suddenly pulled the plug on the A teams playing a triangular tournament in India. While brother Irfan will be shaking a leg in a television show, Yousuf Pathan is making big strides in cricket and he is showing why he could be India’s most valuable asset in the years to come.

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Yousuf Pathan is in the Andrew Symonds mould. No, not the irritable, disobedient persona of Symonds. Rather Pathan imbibes the modern day all-rounder, the hard hitting batsman, one whose aggression is bet put to use knocking the ball out of the ground. His style of batting, the one that people would pay to watch, was once more on display and for New Zealand A playing in the tri series, it dashed hopes of what appeared a facile victory at the start of the day.

India A had lost five wickets for just sixty-six runs in under twelve overs. It seemed India A were digging themselves into trouble again after beating the same opposition last week. But the nails in the coffin were never hammered into and India A scrambled out of one of the worst scenarios possible.

In a thundering innings that involved nine long hits for six, Pathan smashed a brilliant 148 off 123 balls. His century partnership with Rohit Sharma helped ease the bumps that threatened to take India A down the road to defeat. Instead New Zealand A who were looking to wrap up the game early were forced to face the mounting task of chasing 305 runs for a win.

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The top five of the New Zealand A batting order scored in double digits, including James Marshall’s half century and skipper Peter Fulton’s forty-two. But with no batsman with the mode for blitzkrieg like Yousuf Pathan, New Zealand A were being done in by India A and there was no way to come back into the game after losing wickets at regular intervals chasing a target that kept getting out of hand. New Zealand A will be having nightmares after this, though the team has had little time before meeting the Australia A side the next day.

Australia A then made easy pickings of their Trans Tasmanian rivals despite Peter Fulton’s sixty-five to get his team over the hiccup of losing two wickets for just two runs in the second over. New Zealand A’s batting collapse meant that they lost seven wickets for seventeen runs! From 2 for 2, New Zealand went to 4 for 127 to stage a rapid slide to all out for 144.

New Zealand A barely stood a chance to make it to the final after that and the turnaround dished by India A the previously day. Cameron White’s four wickets were the stand out for the day. Australia A had little trouble chasing down the target with opener Hughes setting the pace and David Hussey coming with a match winning seventy-eight.

India A would like their top order to fire in what will now be the dress rehearsal in the final league game against Australia A on Wednesday in preparation for the tri nation A tournament final.

For other scintillating matches in the series, look back with:

Update: India A seal their first victory; New Zealand A’s Turn to Crumble

India A Fight Back after Tait-Noffke Jolt But Aus A Register Win