India ‘A’ started its Caribbean tour in a grand fashion, beating the home team by 65 runs in the first unofficial one-day game at Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua on Thursday (July 11).

Opting to bat first, India ‘A’ got off to a terrible start losing Ruturaj Gaikwad (3), Shubman Gill (10) and skipper Manish Pandey (4) with just 22 runs on the board. Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari then bailed the visitors out of trouble with a 95-run stand. While Iyer scored 77 off 107 balls before getting run-out, Vihari missed his half-century by 16 runs.

Little but useful contributions from Ishan Kishan (16), Akshar Patel (17) and Washington Sundar (10*) propelled India to 190 before the tourists’ innings eventually folded in the penultimate over. For West Indies ‘A’, Roston Chase picked up four wickets for 19 runs in his 6.5 overs while Akeem Jordan claimed two of his three scalps at the top to trigger a collapse.

Defending the below-par total, India ‘A’ pacers Khaleel Ahmed and Deepak Chahar decimated hosts’ top-order and reduced them to 30 for 4. In particular, Khaleel wreaked havoc with the new ball as the left-armer took three of the first four wickets.

The only resistance for West Indies ‘A’ came from Jonathan Carter and Rovman Powell, who both scored 41 runs each and shared a fifth-wicket stand of 65. But once Rahul Chahar broke the partnership by dismissing Powell, West Indies ‘A’ lost its next five wickets for 29 runs to be bundled out on 125 in 35.5 overs. Akshar Patel and Washington Sundar also chipped in with a couple of wickets for India ‘A’.

The second one-dayer of the five-match series will be held at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua on Sunday (July 14).

Brief scores:

India ‘A’ – 190 all-out in 48.5 overs (Shreyas Iyer 77; Hanuma Vihari 34; Roston Chase 4-19, Akeem Jordan 3-43) beat West Indies ‘A’ – 125 all-out in 35.5 overs (Jonathan Carter 41*; Rovman Powell 41; Khaleel Ahmed 3-16) by 65 runs.