Unbeaten fifties from opener Yaseen Valli and Jean du Plessis helped South Africa ‘A’ earn a draw against India ‘A’ on the fourth and final day of the first ‘Unofficial Test’ here on Thursday.
South Africa ‘A’ made 152 for 2 in 42 overs in their second innings before both the sides agreed to shake hands.
Earlier, India ‘A’ finished their first innings at 417 all out.
The home side were in a bit of bother when they were reduced to 48 for 2 in the 12th over as opener Cameron Dean Shekleton and one down batter Rubin Herman returned to the hut without contributing much.
However, SA found their fight through Valli (72 not out, 137 balls, 8×4) and Du Plessis (50 not out, 82 balls, 5×4) as they negated the rest of the 30 overs without much fuss.
They played comfortably against Indian pacers, especially Prasidh Krishna who had taken a fifer in the first innings, including a hat-trick.
Earlier in the day, India resumed their first innings from 377 for six with Shardul Thakur batting on 70.
But, he could add only six more runs to his overnight score, before giving a catch to Valli off pacer Evan Jones.
Saurabh Kumar made 22 to take India past the 400-run mark as the visitors ended their first innings at 417 all out for an innings lead of 98 runs.
For South Africa, Jones took four wickets while fellow pacer Siya Plaatjie grabbed three.
The second unofficial Test will begin at Benoni on December 26.
Brief Scores: South Africa ‘A’: 319 all out in 98.1 overs and 152 for 2 in 42 overs (Yaseen Valli 72 not out, Jean Du Plessis 50 not out) drew with India ‘A’: 417 all out in 86.5 overs (Pradosh Ranjan Paul 163, Shardul Thakur 76, Sarfaraz Khan 68; Evan Jones 4/100, Siya Plaatjie 3/65).
