India U-23 men held to draw by Indonesia
New Delhi: The India U-23 men's national team was held to a 1-1 draw by Indonesia in their second friendly in Jakarta on Monday.
After a goalless first half, Korou Singh Thingujam (47') plut the Blue Colts in the lead, before Dony Tri Pamungkas (71') equalised for the hosts.
India had defeated the hosts 2-1 in the first match, following which, head coach Naushad Moosa made six changes to his starting lineup.
With an intent to avenge their defeat in the previous game, Indonesia pressed forward from the get go, but a spell of adept defending from the Blue Colts saw the match remain goalless for most parts of the first half.
Muhammad Rayhan Hannan's early shot was palmed away by India goalkeeper Dipesh Chauhan in the 10th minute.
Kakang Rudianto, from a set-piece, managed to leap higher than the rest and nodded a free-header goalwards. However, a flying Chauhan managed to put a hand out and tip it over the bar.
India waited for their opportune moments to launch the counter-attacks, and managed a good opportunity with Ricky Meetei flashing a venomous long-range shot perilously close to the Indonesia goal.
Minutes before the half-time whistle, Vibin Mohanan had a crack from the edge of the box, but it was saved by the Indonesia goalkeeper.
India started off much brighter after the change of ends, and took the lead within two minutes of the restart, when substitute Harsh Palande's low cross from the left found Korou unmarked inside the Indonesia box, and the latter tapped it in to put his side in the lead.
A minute later, Muhammed Suhail, who also came on as a substitute, weaved his way into the Indonesia box and had a crack, but it was punched away.
Indonesia had a sniff at getting an equaliser when Sumit Sharma committed a foul outside the India box. Dony Tri Pamungkas stepped up and sent the free-kick into the back of the net, to draw the hosts level.
Moosa made another slew of changes towards the end, which finally saw Priyansh Dubey come on to replace Chauhan in goal. The substitute goalkeeper also pulled off a stunning save in the closing minutes off a Rifqi Ray Farandi long-range effort.
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Prasidh, Kuldeep limit South Africa to 270 after De Kock's hundred
Visakhapatnam (PTI): India fought back gallantly through Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep Yadav after Quinton de Kock struck his 23rd hundred, keeping South Africa to a manageable 270 in the third and series-deciding final ODI, here Saturday.
India won the toss after judging the spin of the coin incorrectly 20 times in a row. They had little hesitation in inserting the Proteas into bat, a clear indication of dew factor dominating the thought.
After Arshdeep Singh sent back Ryan Rickelton early, De Kock (106, 89b, 8x4, 6x4) struck his seventh century against India and put on 113 runs off 124 balls with skipper Temba Bavuma (48, 67b) as the visitors moved to a healthy position.
De Kock was severe on Prasidh (4/66), who erred on length continuously in his first spell (2-0-27-0). The left-hander biffed the pacer for 6, 6, 4 in his second over to milk 18 runs.
The 32-year-old quickly pounced on anything that was short, and pacers Prasidh and Harshit offered him plenty of feed on his pet areas.
Bavuma was more sedate, and made runs through those typical dabs and jabs, occasionally unfurling a drive of elan.
De Kock moved to fifty in 42 balls, and never let the tempo down reaching his hundred in 79 balls.
India found temporary relief when Ravindra Jadeja induced a false slash from Bavuma to get caught by Virat Kohli at point.
The tourists got another move on through a 54-run partnership between De Kock and Matthew Breetzkle for the third wicket, and at 168 for two in 28 overs they were in a good position to press on.
But Breetzke's punishment of part-time spinner Tilak Varma forced a rethink in the Indian camp, as skipper KL Rahul brought back Prasidh for a second spell.
What a masterstroke it turned out to be! The Karnataka man broke the back of South Africa’s top and middle order in an exceptional second spell (4-0-11-3).
Breetzke was the first man to go, trapped plumb in front with a straight one and four balls later Aiden Markram uppishly chipped a fuller delivery to Kohli at short covers.
Prasidh soon castled De Kock, whose ugly cross-batted swipe failed to connect a full length delivery from the pacer.
All of a sudden, SA found themselves at a shaky 199 for five, losing three wickets in the space of three overs.
Once Prasidh was done away with the top and middle-order, left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep (4/41) took over and mopped up the tail as SA fell short of even a par total on this track.
