Unofficial Test: Varma, Sundar slam fifties against New Zealand A
What's the story
India A are all over New Zealand A in the ongoing third and final unofficial Test match at Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln. On Day 2, the visitors resumed their first innings at 227/2 and went on to score 464/5 before declaring after 146 overs. Tilak Varma and Washington Sundar hammered unbeaten half-centuries en route to their 114-run partnership for the sixth wicket. Here we look at their knock and stats.
Key partnerships
Fine knocks from the duo
Yashasvi Jaiswal's brilliant 102, Sai Sudharsan's 88, and captain Dhruv Jurel's 71 had put India at 275/3 when Varma arrived to bat.
After Jurel's dismissal, Varma added 44 runs with Ravindra Jadeja (25) before forming an unbeaten 114-run partnership with Sundar.
Both batters played cautiously as their strike rate were below 50.
It was an important knock from Sundar as he is a part of India's two-Test series against New Zealand, starting November 19.
Stats
Varma goes past 1,900 First-Class runs
Varma smashed five fours and two sixes in his 81* off 164 balls.
According to Cricinfo, the youngster raced to his eighth half-century in First-Class cricket.
He also has eight tons, making his conversion outstanding.
The 24-year-old left-handed batter now has 1,909 runs from 26 red-ball games at an incredible average of over 55.
The vice-captain of India's T20I side, Varma is yet to make his Test debut.
Sundar
Sundar's 14th fifty in First-Class cricket
Sundar made exactly 50* off 107 balls, hitting a couple of fours.
This was his 17th 50-plus score in FC cricket, which has powered him to 2,342 runs across 51 games at an average of around 35 (100s: 3).
937 of his runs have come across 18 Tests at 44.61. In addition to a ton, he has slammed six fifties.
With his off-spin, Sundar also owns 110 FC wickets, including 41 in Tests.