Yashasvi Jaiswal continued his red-hot run in New Zealand, scoring his second century in as many innings for India A — 102 off 138 balls on Day 1 of the third unofficial Test against New Zealand A at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln on Saturday.
Jaiswal reached his hundred off 127 balls, bringing it up with a boundary off the second ball of the 44th over from Dean Foxcroft in the second session, and finished with 16 fours and two sixes. He added 175 runs in 46.3 overs for the first wicket with B Sai Sudharsan, who was unbeaten on 61 at tea, before falling to Danru Ferns, caught by Cameron Paul.
The knock followed his unbeaten 155 in the second innings of the second unofficial Test at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Tuesday, November 2. Back-to-back hundreds on this shadow tour underline the form of India’s first-choice Test opener just 12 days before the senior series begins at the Basin Reserve in Wellington on November 19.
New Zealand A won the toss and chose to field first, but their bowlers could not dislodge the openers until well into the second session. At the latest update, India A were 221 for two, with Sudharsan unbeaten on 73 and Devdutt Padikkal the only other wicket to fall, caught behind off Jarrod McKay for 15.
The first two matches of the series ended in draws, and this four-day game, which runs until November 10, is both sides’ last chance to finish the series with a win.
The match is also a Test audition for several senior players. Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Prasidh Krishna and Tilak Varma are all in the India A playing XI, with Dhruv Jurel captaining the side. Rishabh Pant missed out again as he continues his recovery from a side strain at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, with a second fitness test scheduled for November 9, ten days before the Wellington Test.
For Jaiswal, though, the talking point is the batting. His 155 not out in Christchurch had already made him the standout performer of the tour, and a second hundred in consecutive innings — scored at a strike rate of nearly 74 — is exactly the statement an opener wants to make with a Test series around the corner.
India A will look to bat big on Day 2 and put New Zealand A under scoreboard pressure for the first time in the series.
Related: Bumrah and Jadeja join India A for Lincoln Test as Pant’s side strain clouds Wellington plans | Kohli’s 74 powers India to five-wicket DLS win over New Zealand in rain-hit Auckland opener
