Uthappa leads India A's assault

Four internationals helped themselves to half centuries as India A ended the opening day against Zimbabwe Select at the Harare Sports Club on 331 for 5. Mohammad Kaif won the toss and his batsmen, led by Robin Uthappa's characteristic 88 off 85 balls, made largely untroubled progress.

Uthappa and his opening partner Cheteshwar Pujara got off to a brisk start, adding 56 before Pujara fell for 9, edging to the slips. Parthiv Patel, coming in at No.3, made 67 and was involved in two half century stands. He added 77 and 68 with Uthappa and Kaif respectively, strengthening India's position. After his departure, Kaif (63) and Rohit Sharma (65) scored patient half centuries but they too failed to convert their scores to three figures. S Badrinath, the Tamil Nadu middle-order batsman, was undefeated on 24 at the close.

Chandrakanth Pandit, the coach, said he was satisfied with the number of fruitful partnerships. He also praised Uthappa for his aggressive knock. "They all batted extremely well and dominated the fast bowlers," Pandit told the Hindustan Times. "The only thing I thought could have gone better was that if one or all of them had gone on to get hundreds."