Bahutule cuts through Kenya

Sairaj Bahutule, captaining India A, ran riot on the opening day of the four-day match against Kenya, taking five wickets to bundle the Kenyans out for 116, in just 40 overs. By the end of the day's play, India were well in control at 127 for 3.

Brijal Patel (3), who was drafted into the side for the banned Maurice Odumbe, failed on his first outing for Kenya. But there were several other players who failed as well. Only Ravindu Shah got off to a start, but even he could not capitalise on his 33. He was ultimately done in by Bahutule.

Steve Tikolo also flopped, scoring only 11, but more importantly, his dismissal was the start of a collapse that severely damaged any chances Kenya had of recovering. Six wickets fell in the space of 14 runs and, at 73 for 8, Kenya were in deep trouble. It took Lameck Onyango's late-order hitting to take the team past 100. His 32 helped them to 116, a total surpassed by the Indians later in the day.

Gautam Gambhir had been in smashing form in the tri-series, but he couldn't get past 30 here. He shared an important 52-run partnership with Vaman Ojha (28), another batsman who couldn't make use of his start. Sridharan Sriram (37 not out) and Venugopal Rao (15 not out) then took India past the Kenyan total without further casualties, and ensured that India A were in charge of the match.