CHENNAI, Aug 13: Mayank Agarwal and Manish Pandey smashed centuries to power India A to a 34-run win over South Africa A and qualify for the tri-series final at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here today. Agarwal (176 runs off 133 balls) and Pandey (108 not out off 85) shared a 203-run stand for the second wicket to set up a mammoth 371 for three in the crucial clash.
South Africa, who had a rather improbable task of overcoming the massive total in 175 balls to make the final, fought through opener Quinton de Kock (113 off 86), Reeza Hendricks (76 off 109) and Khaya Zondo (86 off 60) before ending at 337 for six in 50 overs.
India meet the mighty Australians in the final tomorrow, having already lost to them twice in the competition.
South Africa�s move to field first backfired with India openers Agarwal and captain Unmukt Chand (64 off 77) sharing a century stand to set up the huge total.
SCORECARD
India A: MA Agarwal c Maharaj b Tsotsobe 176, UBT Chand lbw b Maharaj 64, MK Pandey not out 108, KK Nair run out 10, Mandeep Singh not out 1, Extras: (lb 3, w 8, nb 1) 12. Total: (3 wickets; 50 overss) 371. Fall of wickets: 1-106, 2-309, 3-360. Bowling: LL Tsotsobe 10-0-61-1, WD Parnell 10-0-79-0, M Shezi 10-0-65-0, KA Maharaj 10-0-69-1, CS Delport 5-0-38-0, K Zondo 1-0-16-0, TB de Bruyn 4-0-40-0.
South Africa A: Q de Kock c Samson b Patel 113, CS Delport b Kalaria 34, RR Hendricks c Nair b Mandeep Singh 76, TB de Bruyn c Chand b Patel 1 8, C Chetty run out 0, K Zondo b Patel 86, DJ Vilas not out 7, WD Parnell not out 2, Extras: (lb 8, w 10) 18. Total: (6 wickets; 50 overs) 337. Fall of wickets: 1-53, 2-181, 3-183, 4-184, 5-279, 6-333. Bowling: R Dhawan 7-0-50-0, RB Kalaria 7-0-50-1, Gurkeerat Singh 10-0-62-0, AR Patel 8-1-32-3, KV Sharma 8-0-67-0, KK Nair 4-0-19-0, Mandeep Singh 5-0-31-1, UBT Chand 1-0-18-0. � PTI
