Shahbaz Nadeem, Karan Sharma share 16 wickets among them as New Zealand A face innings defeat

New Zealand A were humiliated by the Karun Nair-led India A side at Vijayawada as the visitors suffered an innings defeat. The ‘Blackcaps’ were bowled out for 147 in the first innings after Shahbaz Nadeem and Karan Sharma made life difficult for the visitors, sharing 8-wickets between them. Nadeem finished with 4/39 while Sharma bagged 4/58.

India replied strongly and posted 320 on the board. And they didn’t had to bat again as the spin duo- Nadeem and Sharma once again proved to be too good for the Kiwis. Nadeem and Sharma both scalped 4 wickets in the second innings and took their tally of wickets to 8-in-the-match respectively. New Zealand were 64/2 at one stage but were involved in a collapse which saw them getting bundled out for 142.

For India, Shreyas Iyer stood out with a hundred while wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant made 67 with the bat. Lanky-leggie Ish Sodhi picked up a five-for, and finished the innings with 5/94. New Zealand failed to tackle the spinners. Opener George Worker top scored for the visitors in the 2nd innings with a 35 while his partner Jeet Raval made 21.

Nadeem at his best

Nadeem has been knocking at the international door for quite sometime now. The 28-year old plays for Delhi Daredevils in the IPL and Jharkhand in the Indian domestic circuit. The slow left arm orthodox bowler has 327 wickets from 87 First-class games at an average of 29.40.  Shahbaz has been impressive over the last couple of years. “I have a total of 70-71 wickets in Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali together and I don’t remember a player last bagging these many wickets in one season together in all three formats. No player comes into cricket only to play until the domestic level. Every player has the goal of playing for his country one day and it’s the same with me,” the Jharkhand spinner had said last year regarding his aspiration of representing the country.

Brief Scores: 

New Zealand A: 147 (Tim Seifert 35, Jeet Raval 34; Shahbaz Nadeem 4/39, Karn Sharma 4/58)

India A: 320 (Shreyas Iyer 108, Rishabh Pant 67; Ish Sodhi 5/94, Todd Astle 2/55)

New Zealand A: 142 (George Worker  35, Jeet Raval 21; Shahbaz Nadeem 4/51, Karan Sharma 4/62)