India A 113 (Rathod 44*, Keene 5-24, Gibson 3-29) and 516 (Padikkal 199, Sai Sudharsan 91, Rathod 66, Washington 52, Gibson 3-80) drew with New Zealand A 317 (Mariu 76, Foxcroft 51, Kamboj 3-52, Nabi 3-69) and 187 for 9 (Heaphy 90*, Nabi 3-28)
Bad light and a fighting 90 not out from opener Curtis Heaphy frustrated India A in the last session of the first four-day game in Lincoln, where the visitors finished one wicket short of victory. India A will take a lot of heart from the way they turned the game around after being dismissed for 113 on the first day and conceding a first-innings lead of 204. Their batters got big runs in the second innings before Auqib Nabi took three early wickets on the last day to put New Zealand A under pressure.
Captain Dhruv Jurel handed the ball to Devdutt Padikkal too, who picked up his first two wickets in first-class cricket, and left-arm quick Mukesh Choudhary switched to left-arm spin in fading light but the last wicket never came.
Set a target of 313, New Zealand A were 170 for 9 before Heaphy and No. 11 Jayden Lennox combined to stand between India A and victory. They played out nearly 10 overs and about 17 were left in the day before the umpires took the players off for bad light.
Nabi was the star of the day for India with the new ball. He struck three times in the space of eight legal deliveries, reaping rewards for targeting the stumps against the top order. He swung the ball in sharply from wide of the crease to hit Rhys Mariu's middle stump with the first ball of his second over. Nabi ended that over by trapping No. 3 Tim Robinson in front with one that straightened after pitching in line with the stumps. In his third over he switched to around the wicket for the left-hand batter Matthew Boyle and rattled his stumps too by bringing the ball in sharply.
Dean Foxcroft joined Heaphy on 13 for 3 and revived the innings with a 78-run stand that nearly took them to the 100 mark. Heaphy then saw more wickets tumble as Foxcroft mistimed a pull off Mukesh for 42 and Mitchell Hay was caught behind off Anshul Kamboj. It went downhill from 110 for 5 as the tail couldn't spend much time with Heaphy either.
Washington Sundar struck just before tea to leave the hosts six down. After tea, India A gave the ball to Padikkal, who struck in quick succession. Heaphy was left shaking his head in disappointment at the non-striker's end when Fraser Sheat and Zak Gibson edged to KL Rahul at first slip. New Zealand A lost four wicket for just 39 runs but managed to survive with help from the deteriorating light.
India A had started the day on 488 for 8 and Washington added just one more to his overnight score to fall for 52. Akash Deep hit some lusty blows off both pace and spin to remain unbeaten on 25 off 17 as India A were all out for 516.