Beuran Hendricks led the charge with 11 wickets to give South Africa A an emphatic 121-run win over India A in the second unofficial Test in Pretoria. With the victory, the hosts drew level in the two-match series.

Chasing a steep 307, India A were reeling on 18/5 at one stage after Hendricks ripped through their top order. Ajinkya Rahane (86) and Wriddhiman Saha (77*) tried to restore India A’s hopes with a 160-run partnership for the sixth wicket, before Hendricks had Rahane out bowled.

Hendricks was the star of the match, as he followed his five-wicket haul in the first innings with six-for in the second. After dismissing opener Murali Vijay in the very first over of India A’s second innings, on Day 3, the left-arm pacer got rid of nightwatchman Shahbaz Nadeem off the seventh ball on Day 4. He followed up with Dinesh Karthik’s scalp in the same over. In the very next over, he got Ambati Rayudu caught behind. This was after India had lost Cheteshwar Pujara to a run-out off the very first ball of the day.

The havoc was followed by a bit of calm, thanks to Rahane and Saha. While Rahane started out with positive intent – reaching his half-century in 67 balls – Saha crawled his way to 14 off 57 balls before upping the ante. The overall stand of 160 came in 50.4 overs.

After Hendricks removed Rahane, the remaining batsmen fell in a heap as India A lost their last five wickets for just eight runs.

Brief scores:

Day 1 – SA A 1st innings 231/6 in 81.3 overs (Harmer 68*; Rasool 2/39)

Day 2 – SA A 1st innings 341 all-out in 121 overs (Harmer 96; Pandey 3/67); India A 1st innings 145/6 in 51.3 overs (Pujara 54; Hendericks 3/28)

Day 3 – India A 1st innings 201 all-out in 70.1 overs (Pujara 54; Hendricks 5/36, Harmer 4/74); South Africa A 2nd innings 166/5 decl in 63 overs (Elgar 62; Nadeem 56/3); India A 2nd innings 3/1 in 4 overs (Hendricks 0/1)

Day 4 – India A 2nd innings 185 all-out in 66.2 overs (Rahane 86, Saha 77*, Hendricks 6/27)

Result – South Africa A won by 121 runs