Hubli: Zaheer Khan sliced through the West Indies A lower order to help India A notch up an innings and 54 runs victory over the visitors in the third and final Test and level the three-match series here Saturday.
The out of favor left-arm seamer took four for 59 as West Indies A could manage just 242 for nine in their second innings in the 13th over after lunch on the final day.
Wicketkeeper Jahmar Hamilton did not come out to bat due to injury he sustained yesterday while fielding.
Zaheer finished the match with five for 92 runs. Earlier he ran into the lower-order batsmen after lunch today, claiming three wickets in a space of eight deliveries.
The 35-year-old's first victim was Narasingh Deonaraine whom he cleaned up with a beatiful ball which pierced the defence of the Guyanese after he had made a fighting 99 runs, which included 13 hits to the fence.
Zaheer castled the wickets of Ashley Nurse (0) and Miguel Cummins in his 17th over to help India A seal the Test and level the series.
Skipper Cheteshwar Pujara's magnificent unbeaten 306 and Gautam Gambhir's 123 were the highlights of India A performance. Their innings enabled India A to post a mammoth 564 for nine declared in their first innings with a lead of 296 runs.
West Indies A, after put into bat, had made 268 in their first innings.
