IND-A vs SA-A: In the first match of the three-match unofficial ODI series, India A defeated South Africa A by 4 wickets. This match was played on Thursday at Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot. Chasing 286 runs, the Indian team achieved the target in the last over and registered a thrilling victory. With this the team has taken a 1-0 lead in the series.

Gaikwad’s strong century became the foundation of victory

The biggest support for India-A’s victory was Rituraj Gaikwad, who scored 117 runs in 129 balls while playing the captaincy innings. During this period he hit 12 fours. This is the 17th century of Ruturaj’s List-A career and the most important thing is that he kept the team in control continuously.

Opener Abhishek Sharma gave a good start with 31 runs, while captain Tilak Verma strengthened the innings by scoring 39 runs. In the end, Nitish Reddy, playing the role of finisher, scored 37 runs in 26 balls. He turned the match towards India A by hitting one six and three fours. Nishant Sindhu remained unbeaten after scoring 29 runs and ensured the victory of his team.

Bjorn Fortuin, Otniel Bartman and Tian van Vuuren took two wickets each for South Africa-A.

South Africa A’s weak start, then the game changed

Earlier, after losing the toss and coming to bat first, South Africa A had a very bad start. The team had lost its 5 wickets for just 53 runs. It seemed that the score would not even reach 150, but Delano Potgieter, Dianne Forrester and Bjorn Fortuin completely changed the match.

Potgieter played a brilliant inning of 90 runs in 105 balls. During this, he hit 10 fours and one six. Whereas Diane Forrester scored 77 runs and along with Potgieter made a partnership of 113 runs for the sixth wicket. In the end, Bjorn Fortuin scored 58 runs and took the team to 285. For India-A, Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh took two wickets each.

Second match now on 16th November

The second match of the series will also be played on the same ground on 16 November. While South Africa-A will try to make a comeback, India-A will look to win the series.

In the first unofficial ODI match, India has defeated South Africa by 4 wickets. In the ODI match played in Rajkot, South Africa A scored 285 runs while playing first. In reply, India A ensured victory by 4 wickets in the last over on the basis of Rituraj Gaikwad’s century. Gaikwad played the match-winning innings of 117 runs.

The South African team won the toss and chose to bat first in this match. The opening spell of Arshdeep Singh and Prasidh Krishna put the South African team on the back foot, as they lost three wickets for the score of just one run. By the time the fourth quarter was scored at 16 runs and 53 runs were scored, half of the South African team had returned to the pavilion.

Meanwhile, Diane Forrester and Delano Potgetter made a strong comeback for South Africa A in the match by making a partnership of 113 runs. Forrester played an inning of 77 runs. After this, Potgetter along with Bjorn Fortuin added 87 runs. Potgetter made an important contribution of 90 runs and Bjorn made 59 runs.

Rituraj Gaikwad’s century

For Team India, which was chasing the target of 286 runs, Abhishek Sharma was out after scoring 31 runs and Riyan Parag was out after scoring only 8 runs. Rituraj Gaikwad was in command at the other end. Gaikwad along with Tilak Verma made a partnership of 89 runs to take the Indian team closer to victory.

Gaikwad was out after scoring 117 runs. Nitish Kumar Reddy also played an important inning of 37 runs in 26 balls in a pressure situation, he made a partnership of 65 runs with Nishant Sindhu. Sindhu scored 29 unbeaten runs. The second unofficial ODI match between the two teams will be played on 16 November.

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In the second unofficial test, South Africa defeated India by 5 wickets. Team India had to pay for declaring the innings early. In this unofficial test match played in Bengaluru, India A had set a huge target of 417 runs for South Africa A. The South African team registered a big victory by achieving this target by losing only 5 wickets. Jordan Harman played a brilliant inning of 91 runs.

India A had a lead of 34 runs in the first innings. In the second innings, the Indian team declared its innings by scoring 382 runs on the basis of Dhruv Jurel’s unbeaten 127 runs and half-centuries by Rishabh Pant and Harsh Dubey. Pant contributed 65 runs and Harsh Dubey contributed 84 runs. Declaring the innings was very costly for Team India.

Captain Rishabh Pant’s decision proved costly

The decision to declare an innings rests with the captain and the team management. India A team had declared the innings at the score of 382 before the end of the third day. Dhruv Jurel was set, had scored 127 runs. On his strength, the Indian team could easily set a target of 450 or even 500 runs for South Africa A. But overconfidence proved costly for Team India.

Dhruv Jurel scored centuries in both the innings of this match for the Indian team. He returned unbeaten after scoring 132 runs in the first innings and 127 runs in the second innings. Jurel did not play the first match of the series, but by scoring a total of 259 runs in the second test, he won the Player of the Series award. The first unofficial test was won by India A by a close margin of 3 wickets.

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The Indian team has set a target of 417 runs for South Africa in the second unofficial test. On the third day of the second Test match being played in Bengaluru, India A declared the second innings after scoring 382 runs. Based on the lead of 34 runs in the first innings, Team India has given a target of 417 runs to South Africa A. Rishabh Pant scored a half-century, while Dhruv Jurel scored his second unbeaten century in the same match. Jurel scored 259 runs in this match and was not out even once.

Indian batsmen increased their score to 78/3 on the third day. Only a few minutes had passed since the day had started, when KL Rahul was out after scoring 27 runs. Kuldeep Yadav was fielded as night watchman on the second day, he scored 16 runs. At the time of Kuldeep’s dismissal, India had lost the fifth wicket at the score of 116. His lead was just 150 runs.

Pant’s fifty, Jurel’s century

After the fall of the fifth wicket, Dhruv Jurel and Harsh Dubey took charge. There was a huge partnership of 184 runs between the two, due to which Team India touched the mark of 300 runs. After that Rishabh Pant along with Jurel added 82 runs. Rishabh Pant played a half-century inning of 65 runs.

Dhruv Jurel returned unbeaten after scoring 127 runs in the second innings. Jurel had played an unbeaten century in the first innings also. Jurel had played an unbeaten inning of 132 runs in the first innings. Jurel scored 259 runs in the entire match.

South Africa’s target is 417.

On the third day, India declared the second innings on the score of 382/7. India has set a target of 417 runs. Till stumps on the fourth day, 25 runs were scored in 11 overs without losing any wicket. On the fourth and last day he will have to score 392 more runs to win. Let us remind you that the first unofficial test was won by India A by 3 wickets.

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The first unofficial Test is being played between India A and South Africa A in Bengaluru. This is also the comeback match of Rishabh Pant, he was injured during the fourth Test in England. He is playing his first match after recovering from injury, but he flopped in the first innings. He was out after scoring 17 runs in 20 balls.

In the first unofficial Test, which started on Thursday, 30 October, South Africa A, batting first, scored 309 runs. Three South African batsmen, Jordan Harman (71), Zubair Hamza (66) and Rubin Harman (54) scored half-centuries. Tanush Kotian took maximum 3 wickets for India.

India scored 234 runs in the first innings. India A captain Rishabh Pant could score only 17 runs, Ayush Mhatre played a brilliant inning of 65 runs. In this innings played in 76 balls, Mhatre hit 10 fours. Ayush Badoni scored important 38 runs. By the end of the day’s play, South Africa A had scored 34 runs in the second innings without losing any wicket. South Africa has a lead of 105 runs.

Along with Rishabh Pant, Patidar and Padikkal also disappointed.

Fans expected that Rishabh Pant would play a big innings against the bowlers of South Africa A, but it did not happen. He was caught out by 28 year old South African bowler Okhule Cele. Apart from Pant, Rajat Patidar and Devdutt Padikkal also disappointed. Padikkal scored 6 runs and Patidar scored 19 runs.

Rishabh Pant is back – and so are the stump mic moments!#INDAvSAA1st Unofficial Test, LIVE NOW https://t.co/JjpHHM4t7l pic.twitter.com/8fPyEcNayq

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) October 30, 2025

Now 2 days of play are left. South Africa A team is in a strong position. The visiting team has a lead of 105 runs, India needs to end the South African innings on the third day. Whereas South Africa would like to set a bigger target for India by scoring 250 to 300 more runs.