West Indies A beat India A by 55 runs to level the three-match one-day series 1-1, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. After anchoring the WI A innings with a sparkling 133 off 132 balls, Jonathan Carter returned to pick two wickets and help the visitors notch up a win.

Earlier, asked to bat first, West Indies A were propelled to 279 by centurion Carter, after losing a couple of early wickets. Vinay Kumar provided the hosts with early breakthroughs to leave the visitors on 21 for two. The pacer got Kieran Powell and Andre Fletcher to nick to the ball to Naman Ojha behind the stumps.

But Carter, who then came to the crease, held the innings together. He was involved in a 79-run stand with Kirk Edwards, before Yusuf Pathan had the No.3 bat stumped. Andre Russell, who then joined Carter, was caught at long-on off Pathan after adding just 12 runs to the total. However, Leon Johnson proved to be an able ally for Carter as they put together 131 runs, until Kumar struck again. Johnson, attempting to clear the ropes, was caught at long-off by Chand for 39.

17 runs later, Carter’s innings was halted by Jaydev Unadkat in the penultimate over. Devon Thomas and Ashley Nurse then added 19 runs off 11 balls to help set India A a 280-run target.

Carter then returned to provide his team with their first wicket by bowling out Robin Uthappa. And a bit later Mandeep Singh edged Miguel Cummins to the ‘keeper. Unmukt Chand continued to battle it out in the middle and stitched a 64-run stand with skipper Yuvraj Singh, before his 72-ball knock was ended by Nurse for 38.

India A kept losing wickets at regular intervals and could not build substantial partnerships, making the target tougher to achieve as the innings progressed. The India A captain was the next to return after offering a catch to Powell at extra cover off Nikita Miller. With the return of Yuvraj Singh, the hosts were 114 for four. Pathan, who replaced him, was sent back for naught off the next delivery.

Facing an uphill task with half the side back in the dressing room, Kedar Jadhav and Naman Ojha added 34 runs at over six runs per over, before Cummins claimed the former to tip the match in the visitors’ favour. And a while later, the bowler castled Ojha for 34 and followed up with the wicket of Vinay Kumar 10 runs later to leave the hosts tottering on 187 for eight. And with WI A in the driver’s seat, Russell claimed Sumit Narwal in the next over. Shahbaz Nadeem and Jaydev Unadkat then rallied on till the penultimate over, until the No.11 bat was dismissed by Carter to end the India A innings and seal a win for West Indies A.

Brief scores: West Indies A279/6 in 50 overs (J Carter 133, L Johnson 39, V Kumar 3/56) beat India A224 all-out in 48.4 overs (Y Singh 40, U Chand 38, M Cummins 4/31, J Carter 2/33) by 55 runs