India A prevailed in a thriller against Australia A in the third and final one-day List-A match of the series at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur, with the home side winning by three wickets. Prabhsimran Singh stood out with a century, while captain Iyer and Parag both slammed fifties.
Shreyas Iyer-led India A defeated Australia A in the third and final one-day to win the three-match List-A series in Kanpur 2-1, as batters chased down a huge target of 317, with a collective effort on Sunday, October 5. Liam Scott and skipper Jack Edwards’ quickfire knocks of 73 and 89, respectively, pushed Australia A’s score beyond 310 and India A were really up against it, but Prabhsimran Singh, followed by the pair of skipper Iyer and Riyan Parag matched the visitors stroke for stroke, before a late collapse threatened to take it all away.
However, Vipraj Nigam kept calm and Arshdeep Singh did his bit to take their side over the line. Riyan Parag, who unfortunately didn’t find a place in India’s ODI squad for the Australia series, was adjudged the Player of the Series for scoring three half-centuries, while Iyer, who was picked as the vice-captain, had a century and a fifty to show for, as he got ready for the senior Australian side.
It all began with Prabhsimran taking the attack to the opposition. Even as Abhishek Sharma, fresh off his Asia Cup success got limited strike, the wicketkeeper-batter kept playing his shots and got the reward for it. India were off to a rollicking start and Prabhsimran didn’t stop. The two quick wickets threatened to snatch the momentum away from India A but Prabhsimran was joined by captain Iyer, whom he has played and batted alongside in the IPL as well and keeping the target in mind, the scoring didn’t stop.
Prabhsimran brought up a tremendous ton, off just 66 balls. The right-hander immediately got out the next over, but Iyer now had company of Riyan Parag, who has been the form batter for the side. The duo played calculated knocks, rotating strike while not leaving the loose balls and taking minimum risks as India A stayed on course of the victory.
Both Iyer and Parag brought up their half-centuries at similar strike rates and seemed like would take India A to home. This is when Australia A fought back just in time. India A lost four wickets for 39 runs, but there was the UP all-rounder Vipraj Nigam, hitting a couple of boundaries here, smashing a crucial six there and eventually took his side through to the win.
It was a brilliant exercise for the Team India hopefuls and the ones, who will be travelling to Australia in a couple of weeks time to get used to the 50-over format. For Riyan, he would have been gutted to miss out the selection but there is still time in the World Cup and the Assam all-rounder will hope to be on that plane to South Africa in 2027 with consistent performances in white-ball cricket.