Ruturaj Gaikwad missed out on a century by just one run but three fifties from the top three ensured India A got to the target of 237 with ease in the fifth and final one-day against West Indies A. Having clinched the series earlier by winning the first three one-dayers, India A bounced back from a narrow defeat in the fourth to end the series on a high.
Gaikwad and Shubman Gill put on 110 for the opening stand. In his knock of 99, Gaikwad smashed 11 boundaries and three sixes while Gill struck eight fours and three sixes in his innings of 40-ball 69. Shreyas Iyer carried the momentum forward as he too brought up his half-century and remained unbeaten on 61 off 64 balls.
Earlier, the home team started on a positive note with Sunil Ambris and Kjorn Ottley putting together a 77-run stand for the first wicket. Once Navdeep Saini removed Ottley, West Indies A lost wickets in a cluster. From 77-1, the hosts were reduced to 89-4 as the middle-order failed to get to double digits.
Relishing their call-up to India’s T20 side, the Chahar brothers Deepak and Rahul picked up two wickets apiece. Krunal Pandya, Khaleel Ahmed and Axar Patel picked up a wicket each. Saini too claimed two wickets for 31 runs.
Gill ended up as the highest run-scorer in the five-match series with 218 runs while Gaikwad finished second with 207 runs, followed by Iyer (187) and captain Manish Pandey (162).
Fast bowlers Khaleel Ahmed and Saini were the top-two wicket takers with nine and eight wickets respectively while Krunal took seven from three matches.
Brief scores: West Indies A 236 in 47.4 overs (Sherfane Rutherford 65; Navdeep Saini 2-31, Deepak Chahar 2/93, Rahul Chahar 2/53) lost to India A 237/2 (Ruturaj Gaikwad 99, Shubman Gill 69, Shreyas Iyer 61) by eight wickets.
Series: India A win five-match series 4-1
Player of the Match: Ruturaj Gaikwad
