Manish Pandey’s classy unbeaten century and crucial half-centuries from Shreyas Iyer and Vijay Shankar helped India A chase 300 in the second unofficial ODI against hosts New Zealand A. With the visitors getting to the target with an over to spare, India A clinched the series 2-0 at Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui with a game left to be played on Tuesday at the same venue.

While all eyes were on the senior team in Adelaide, the India A put up another scintillating performance. The in-form middle-order once again laid the foundation with Iyer’s second consecutive half-century and Shankar’s fourth straight half-century of the tour.

Captain Pandey 111* (109b, 5x4, 3x6) anchored the chase brilliantly as he first put on 90 with Iyer for the third wicket to recover from a precarious 58/2 when both Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal were dismissed for an identical score of 25. Once Iyer was dismissed for a 63-ball 59, Pandey stitched a 123-run stand off 19 overs with Shankar. The all-rounder, who was pivotal in the first win with a telling contribution of 87, once again played a fine knock to bring India A closer to victory.

Off spinner Cole McConchie’s twin strikes with India needing 29 from 27 made things interesting but Axar (12* from 11) remained calm as India crossed the finish line in the penultimate over.

Earlier, left-arm fast Khaleel Ahmed struck in the first over removing Hamish Rutherford but fellow opener George Worker and No. 3 Will Young put on a big 190-run partnership. Khaleel broke the partnership and Axar stuck from the other end as he bowled Worker for an agonizing 99. K Gowtham dismissed captain Corey Anderson for zero and New Zealand A were reduced to 215-4. Wickets kept tumbling as all-rounder Daryl Mitchell (45 off 28) gave them late impetus as they finished at 299.

Brief scores: New Zealand A 299/9 in 50 overs (Will Young 102, George Worker 99; Khaleel Ahmed 2-65, Navdeep Saini 2-68) lost to India A 300/5 in 49 overs (Manish Pandey 111*, Vijay Shankar 59; Cole McConchie 2-39) by five wickets