Agarwal, Chand fire hosts to bonus-point win

India A 247 for 2 (Agarwal 130, Chand 90) beat South Africa A 244 (De Kock 108, Dhawan 4-49) by eight wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

They had to wait over a fortnight, but India A's first win since arriving in Chennai was a comprehensive one, as a century from Mayank Agarwal and a 90 from captain Unmukt Chand made light work of a target of 245. South Africa A were not without gains, though. Quinton de Kock, who was dropped from the senior team to work on regaining batting form, produced a determined century. That his 108 did not prove match-winning was because he did not get much support from the other end.

Losing is a sting no cricketer, or team for that matter, would tolerate. But the big picture for South Africa looks a little stable with de Kock in it. They are already unsure of who their best Test openers are. The search for a second spinner seems endless as well. They did not want the slump of their first-choice wicketkeeper. But that is what has happened since de Kock suffered an ankle injury in December 2014. He has played 15 innings since then; 11 of those have ended before he faced 20 balls. Today he faced 124, his highest by far.

De Kock was sent to the A team to get some game time without having to deal with the pressure of international cricket. After arriving in Chennai, he displaced his captain Dean Elgar at the top of the order and got an early crack to start ticking the boxes he needed to force an international comeback. Lasting 46.2 overs and providing his team nearly half their total runs is a good start.

De Kock is a beautiful timer of the ball when in form, but on slow pitches, finding the boundary is a secondary scoring option. Supple wrists, using the pace from the bowlers and manipulating the field is necessary to flourish. De Kock tends to rely on big hits to sustain his innings, and claimed 58 of his 108 runs through fours and sixes. They were not readily on offer, but when the bad ball came, it was met by punchy drives and flat-batted belts. The innings was not fluent but he cultivated valuable time at the crease, so much that he was cramping up when he came back out to field, dropped a catch early at point and eventually left in the 32nd over.

The other specialist wicketkeeper in the squad, Dane Vilas, missed a chance as well. So much for the opportunities South Africa A created as a result of an excellent first five overs in which they gave away only one run off the bat. Lonwabo Tsotsobe was the unlucky bowler both times, and they came in the space of four balls. His first spell ended up reading 5-2-11-0.

Missed opportunities are one thing, but South Africa A's problems were compounded when it was learned that 10 members of their squad were down with illness. The situation was so bad that video analyst Hendrikus Coertzen had to come out to field, and they had to borrow the services of Mandeep Singh a few overs later.

As the wheels came away for South Africa, Agarwal took control, opting to go over the top, instead of sticking with a fidgety defensive technique. He had been 1 off 16, survived a tight chance to second slip, before hammering six fours in 21 balls. With him taking care of the required rate, Chand was able to work through his initial nervousness. He did not fare well with the new ball bouncing sharply as Hardus Viljoen and Tsotsobe teased him outside off.

But the Chennai heat soon began to have its say. The quick bowlers began tiring, Eddie Leie's legspin was whacked for 74 runs in 10 overs, and the opening partnerhip between Chand and Agarwal chugged along to 219 runs. Agarwal completed a run-a-ball hundred and fell with two runs left to seal victory. Karun Nair was tagged in and struck the winning runs with a four.