India A claim series win after Raina ton

In a game that was continually interrupted by rain, Suresh Raina's century underpinned a solid all-round performance from India A as they subdued Bangladesh A by 75 runs and claimed the series 2-1. Raina's 116-run partnership with Sanju Samson - 90 off 99 balls - boosted India A's total to 297 for 6 before their seamers and spinners colluded well to unhinge the visitors.

Bangladesh A's chase began on a discordant note, as Soumya Sarkar played Dhawal Kulkarni onto his stumps in the second over. They slipped to 4 for 2 nine balls later as S Aravind celebrated his India call-up by having Anamul Haque caught at mid-on. After a 21-minute rain interruption, their target was revised to 290 in 46 overs.

Bangladesh A kept losing wickets at regular intervals as the spinners - Kuldeep Yadav, playing his first game of the series, and Karn Sharma - ensured there was no let up in the pressure created by the seamers. Liton Das and Mominul Haque added 44 for the fourth wicket, but Kuldeep dismissed both of them in quick succession to ensure the chase was in free fall. Sabbir Rahman produced some sparkling strokes, but by the time rain interrupted again, Bangladesh A were at 141 for 6, a considerable way behind their D/L par score of 216.

India A had opted to bat at the toss, but early morning conditions meant runs would only come drip by drip. The home side also had to contend with Mayank Agarwal's departure in the third over after he nicked Shafiul Islam to the wicketkeeper. Unmukt Chand, who had been stuck in single digits for 32 balls, and Samson, promoted to No. 3, began mending things patiently.

The scoreboard read 35 for 1 at the end of 10 overs, largely due to an energetic display by the Bangladesh A new-ball bowlers. Al-Amin Hossain's open-chested action resulted in plenty of inward movement and Shafiul got the ball to lift off a length. But, as India A coach Rahul Dravid observed at the start of the series, the Bangalore surface tended to calm down after an early hostile phase.

Chand and Samson, by then, were up to speed with the pitch's character, and were also helped by some anodyne bowling from Sarkar. Rubel Hossain was cranking up the pace at the other end but Chand took him on, dispatching a brace of boundaries, the second one almost daring the deep point to catch him out. Samson, meanwhile, played some cracking punches, pulls and late cuts but their 82-run partnership was terminated when Chand was bowled by Arafat Sunny after he attempted to cut one that came in with the angle.

Raina's entrance invigorated the innings further as he and Samson took turns to jump out of the crease against the spin of Nasir Hossain and Sunny. Both batsmen favoured the wallop over midwicket apart from their signature strokes: Raina repeatedly executed the swat to the leg side while Samson relished the inside-out shots.

Samson was 10 runs short of his maiden List A century when Rubel produced a neat trick: a ball that had been veering in held its line, beat the batsman and bowled him. Kedar Jadhav and Gurkeerat Singh, who was selected in India's ODI squad, were dismissed in quick succession as well, but Raina simply dialled up the intensity of his assault.

He completed his century in 91 balls, and along with Rishi Dhawan, who turned to unconventional shots for an unbeaten 15-ball 26, pushed the team's score past 290. Raina fell with two balls to go in the innings, but by then he had done sufficient damage, helping India A ransack 87 runs in the last 10 overs.