India A 120 for 0 (Jaiswal 63*, Easwaran 53*) lead Bangladesh A 112 (Mosaddek 63, Saurabh 4-23, Saini 3-21) by eight runs
It was Saini who drew first blood early when he clean bowled Mahmudul Hasan Joy, one of eight Test caps in the Bangladesh A side, with a delivery that swung late and beat the outside edge. Mukesh had then Zakir Hasan, the top-scorer in the just-concluded NCL first-class competition, caught behind before clean bowling Mominul Haque, who misjudged a nip-backer from around the stumps.
Mominul’s dismissal could be some cause for worry in the Bangladesh camp as it was his first knock against an overseas team since being dropped from the Test side in West Indies earlier in the year.
Saini wasn’t done yet. He got Najmul Hossain Shanto caught at third slip, before captain Mohammad Mithun carelessly chased a wide one. At that point, Bangladesh A were 26 for 5.
Mosaddek resuscitated the innings with a half-century courtesy six fours and three sixes, and after he became the eighth batter to be dismissed, the hosts managed to add just four more to their score to fold for 112.
India A’s openers were quickly into the thick of things as they calmly posted half-centuries. They struck 14 boundaries in all, as the likes of Khaled Ahmed and Taijul Islam struggled for consistency. Mohammed Mithun, the captain, also tried four overs each of Nayeem Hasan and Mosaddek, but to no avail.