Raina's blazing ton sets target of 355 for NZ A

New Zealand A 230 and 41 for 1 (Redmond 25*) need 314 runs to beat India A 248 and 336 (Raina 146, Vijay 57, Arnel 4-38)
Scorecard

Suresh Raina, the India A captain, made up for his first-innings failure with a murderous assault on the New Zealand A bowling to set them a target of 355. Raina smashed 146 off 130 balls with ten fours and eight sixes, including five of them in one Aaron Redmond over, before New Zealand regrouped to trigger a lower-order collapse. In reply, New Zealand lost BJ Watling early and ended the day on a cautious note at 41 for 1.

Raina's partnership with M Vijay gave India the initiative as New Zealand failed to get early breakthroughs. The pair added a 83 in just under 15 overs before Vijay fell for 57, caught by Peter Fulton off Redmond. As Raina continued his assault, most of the middle-order partnerships progressed at more than five runs an over, thereby signaling India's intent to push for a challenging target. Redmond was the most expensive of the lot, leaking more than seven an over in his 12-over spell.

Raina's dismissal, caught by James Marshall off Nathan McCullum, had a telling effect on India's progress. Brent Arnel, the right-arm seamer, plugged away at the wickets as India lost their last five wickets for just 18 runs. Arnel was on a hat-trick in the 83rd over of the innings. With the first two deliveries, he got rid of Amit Mishra and Mohnish Parmar and nabbed his third victim, Ashok Dinda, off the last ball of that over. Wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha resisted with 39 before being bowled by Arnel, bringing the innings to a close at 336.

Redmond and Watling added 22 before Parmar, the offspinner, trapped Watling for 6 in the 11th over. New Zealand batted out the remaining seven overs and went into the final day needing a further 314 to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.