Brownlie leads New Zealand fightback

India A 554 for 8 dec and 119 for 2 (Mukund 56*) lead New Zealand A 424 (Brownlie 106, Rutherford 99) by 249 runs
Scorecard

India A, after having left New Zealand A struggling at 198 for five on the second day, lost their advantage on the third. The hosts piled on 226 more runs before declaring and leaving India to bat the final session in what looked like another drawn match. Dean Brownlie scored 106, ending his run of low scores in the previous few games, and with Luke Woodcock and Sam Wells, brought his team back into the match. India batted in the final session, and after an 83-run opening stand, lost two quick wickets before bad light ended the day's play.

India had to wait till 23.3 overs after the start of the day to pick their sixth wicket, that of Woodcock, after he and Brownlie added 107 before parting. Woodcock was the dominant partner as he scored 11 boundaries in a 70-ball 58. Wells was also aggressive, hitting six boundaries and three sixes in his 69. By the time Brownlie departed in the 97th over, New Zealand had erased the possibility of India pushing for victory, and the hosts declared at tea. Seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar finished with three wickets, removing Woodcock to account for one of the two wickets to fall in the day.

India Under-19 World Cup winning captain Unmukt Chand, and captain Abhinav Mukund, started India's innings brightly. In the 26th over, Chand was bowled for 44, and three overs later, Naman Ojha was dismissed by the legspinner Tarun Nethula as India finished the day on 119 for 2, leading by 249 runs.

New Zealand will have to bowl well to run through the strong Indian line-up quickly to have any chance of a result on the final day.