Centurion Ruturaj Gaikwad, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Nishant Sindhu guide India A to win in IND-A vs SA-A 1st unofficial ODI

India A claimed a four-wicket win against South Africa A in the unofficial first ODI at Rajkot on Thursday (November 13), as they successfully chased the target of 286 runs in the final over, while the opener and vice-captain Ruturaj Gaikwad scored a century, and middle-order batters Nitish Kumar Reddy and Nishant Sindhu played heroic finisher roles. 

South Africa A scored 285/9 after a horrible start

After South Africa A chose to bat first, they had an awful start: three of their first four batters failed to open the scoreline, and they were down to three wickets with only one run on the board in just 1.4 overs. The struggle further stretched to 53/5 in 11.2 overs as the visitors lost their top five batters, all for less than 20 runs. 

Dian Forrester and Delano Potgieter handled the crisis with a solid 113-run partnership for the sixth wicket, and then Potgieter and Bjorn Fortuin had an 87-run partnership for the seventh wicket. Forrester scored 77 off 83 balls with four fours and four sixes, while Potgieter scored 90 off 105 balls with 10 fours and one six. Also, Fortuin scored 59 off 56 balls with eight fours. 

Finally, South Africa A scored 285/9 in 50 overs. Among the Indian bowlers, Arshdeep Singh (2/59) and Harshit Rana (2/49) picked up two wickets each, while four out of the other six India A bowlers managed to claim one wicket.

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Centurion Ruturaj Gaikwad provided strong start before confident finishing of Nitish Kumar Reddy and Nishant Sindhu

In reply, India A had a good start with a 64-run partnership between Ruturaj Gaikwad and Abhishek Sharma. After Abhishek (31) and Riyan Parag (8) were dismissed quickly, Ruturaj had an 89-run partnership with the skipper Tilak Varma for the third wicket. While Tilak scored 39 and Ishan Kishan was dismissed for 17 runs, Ruturaj scored 117 off 129 balls with 12 fours before losing his wicket in the 41st over. 

Middle-order batters Nitish Kumar Reddy and Nishant Sindhu played powerful roles with the bat, as they had a 65-run partnership in 49 balls for the sixth wicket to guide the hosts to the target. Apart from taking a wicket in his two overs (1/18), Nitish Kumar Reddy, who has been released from the first Test squad against South Africa (starting on November 14, 2025, at Kolkata), scored 37 off 26 balls with three fours and one six. In the meantime, Nishant scored 29 not out off 26 balls (three fours), while Harshit Rana finished the game with a sixer on the third ball of the final over, as India A won by four wickets with three balls remaining.