India A held their nerve to pull off a thrilling three-wicket win over South Africa A in the opening four-day match at Bengaluru on Sunday, to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match unofficial Test series. Skipper Rishabh Pant’s sparkling 90 and crucial lower-order contributions helped India chase down a stiff 275-run target after being in trouble early on.

Pant’s Commanding Knock Sets the Tone

Resuming at 119 for four wickets overnight, India A had a tricky task at hand as they still needed another 166 runs to win. But their captain Rishabh Pant came out with definite purpose and put pressure on the bowlers right away. He smacked pacer Okuhle Cele for a six off the second ball of the day and followed it with two crisp boundaries to third man, collecting 14 runs in the first over itself.

Pant

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