SA A v IND A, 1st unofficial Test, Day 1 Review: Mohammed Siraj picks two, Cook scores ton

India A didn’t make the best of the starts to the unofficial Test series against South Africa A as they picked up only 4 wickets on the first day and conceded 274 runs. The hosts elected to bat first and were boosted by the century from opener Stephen Cook and a fifty from David Miller. For India A, only Mohammed Siraj and Shahbaz Nadeem were amongst wickets.

Openers Cook and Aiden Markram, the captain of the team gave a good start to their team with a fifty-run stand. The pair took time and settled down as they put on 57 runs in 22 overs before Markram, who scored 22 runs in 71 balls with 4 fours, hit one into hands off Shreyas Iyer in Shahbaz Nadeem’s bowling.

India A did take another 25 overs to produce the 2nd wicket as Cook shared a 73-run partnership with Rudi Second. The 2nd wicket stand lasted 24.5 overs before Mohammed Siraj cleaned up Rudi, who scored 32 off 76 balls. The biggest stand of the day was between Cook and David Miller who put on a century stand to increase the problems of India A side.

Cook brought up his fifty in 118 balls and took further 94 balls to complete his century. Stephen Cook, who is playing in his 198th first-class game, brought up his 41st century in the format. This is Cook’s 2nd FC century for South Africa A in 14 innings. Miller scored his runs at a good pace as the left-hander brought up his fifty off 73 balls, his 17th fifty in first-class cricket.

David Miller scored over fifty in five of his last 7 innings in first-class including his highest score of 177. The partnership of 138 runs for the 3rd wicket between the pair came to an end when Miller gave a return catch to Siraj after scoring 78 off 115 balls which included 10 fours and a six. Nadeem too gave a break-through for India A in the final minutes of the day by dismissing Cook. The left-handed opener scored 120 off 252 by hitting just 8 boundaries.

Brief Scores:

South Africa A – 274/4 (89 overs) in 1st innings – Stephen Cook 120, David Miller 78; Mohammed Siraj 2/51 (20), Shahbaz Nadeem 2/81 (27)