Mayank Agarwal (81 retired) and Rishabh Pant (70) had a field day as India’s three-day warm-up match against New Zealand XI ended in a draw at Seddon Park on Sunday.
If the Indian pacers came out with a remarkable performance on Day 2 of the practice game, the batsmen had a good hit on the third day.
While Mayank and Pant put on a 134-run partnership for the third wicket, Prithvi Shaw scored a quickfire 39 off 31 balls. Even Wriddhiman Saha didn’t do his reputation any harm as he hit an unbeaten 30 off 38 balls. But Shubman Gill couldn’t make much of the opportunity as he managed to score just eight runs.
The Indian openers came out from where they had left on Saturday and looked to put the foot on the accelerator, but Daryl Mitchell sent Shaw back after the Mumbaikar managed to add just four runs to his overnight score. An attempted drive saw him miss the line and the stumps were disturbed.
Gill disappointed as he was trapped right in front of the wickets by Mitchell. With things suddenly not looking perfect, the Indian team management decided to give Pant a chance ahead of Saha, and the southpaw obliged as he took the attack to the Kiwi bowlers.
Match drawn!
The players shake hands as India wrap up Day 3 with 252/4 runs in the second innings of the three-day practice game.
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 16, 2020
Brief Scores: India 263 all out and 252/4 (Mayank Agarwal 81 retired, Rishabh Pant 70); New Zealand 235 all out (Henry Cooper 40, Mohammed Shami 3/17)
