India A maintain unbeaten record with win over Gloucestershire

India A 262 for 8 (Sriram 50, Rayudu 54, Fisher 3-45) beat Gloucestershire 193 (Harris 65, Pathan 3-38, Kartik 3-44) by 69 runs
Scorecard

India A maintained their unbeaten record with a 69-run victory over Gloucestershire at Cheltenham. A good allround batting performance enabled India A to muster 262 for 8, and then they bowled out a below-strength Gloucestershire side for 193.

Although Gloucestershire chose to rest half their side, they did include two New Zealanders - Craig McMillan and Chris Harris - with mixed results. A clearly rusty McMillan, who made 18, was dropped twice by the wicketkeeper, Parthiv Patel, before he held a third chance. Harris was a little more successful, taking 2 for 32 and the top scoring with 65 from 86 balls.

India A chose to bat on a bare wicket and in damp conditions, and soon lost Gautam Gambhir (6) and Satyajit Parab (5), both to Roger Sillence. But Sillence struggled to find any rhythm and his third and fourth overs included eight no-balls and four wides.

Hemang Badani and Sridharan Sriram restored order with a third-wicket stand of 97 which ended when Badani slogged Ian Fisher to Harris at extra cover for 48 and then Sriram became Fisher's second wicket when he was bowled for 50 attempting an ambitious sweep. Ambati Rayudu kept up the momentum with a crisp 54 which included a six and three fours.

Gloucestershire's reply never really built up any head of steam as they stumbled to 78 for 4 in the face of some tight bowling, Aavishkar Salvi in particular exploiting the conditions to the full. Harris and Shoaib Malik (36) briefly threatened to revive the chase, but once Sriram dismissed Shoaib, only Harris offered any resistance.