Andries Gous and Sanjay Krishnamurthi both had impressive starts in USA's chase, but nobody was able to reach a half-century as USA fell short in the end chasing India A's massive first innings total. 

File photo credit: Peter Della Penna

By Peter Della Penna (Twitter/X @PeterDellaPenna)
 
USA’s bowlers took on heavy punishment from a relentless India A batting onslaught headlined by a 49-ball century from Narayan Jagadeesan in the host side’s total of 238 for 3 before USA managed 200 in reply to lose by 38 runs in the first official ICC warm-up match for USA at Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium on Monday evening. Jagadeesan hit 11 fours and five sixes in his knock as few bowlers were spared with only Saurabh Netravalkar and Shubham Ranjane finishing with economy rates of under 10 per over out of the nine bowlers used by USA in the contest. 
 
USA won the toss and chose to field first but were put under immediate pressure as India A sprinted to 61 for 1 at the end of the Powerplay and rarely took their foot off of the accelerator. India A hit 13 sixes in the innings, the first of them coming off the bat of Priyansh Arya in the second over when he drove Ali Khan over the rope at extra cover. Arya cleared the ropes again in the third in a 19-run over off Milind Kumar before falling for 28 off 13 in the fourth over when he flicked a leg stump half volley sent down by Jessy Singh to deep square leg where Sanjay Krishamurthi took a simple catch five yards in from the rope to make it 43 for 1. 
 
Tilak Varma then joined Jagadeesan and the pair meted out heavy punishment to USA’s bowlers during a 113-run stand across the next nine overs. After letting Arya be the aggressor during the opening stand, Jagadeesan turned on the jets against Milind in the eighth over. He entered the frame on 30 off 21 balls, but ended the over with a half-century after blasting Milind for four and six off the first two balls before striking two more fours to get to 50 off 26. It was the beginning of a sequence in which he scored 70 off 28 balls to reach three figures. 
 
USA nearly had Varma for 14 in the ninth over, but a drive down the ground off Harmeet Singh’s left-arm spin wound up just barely clearing Krishnamurthi’s leaping effort at long-off to go for six. Varma eventually fell for 38 off 24 to end the stand when Ranjane sent down a short ball that hurried the left-hander on an attempted pull shot and resulted in a gloved chance down the leg side taken by Andries Gous to make it 156 for 2 in the 14^th.
 
Jagadeesan offered an opportunity off Mohammad Mohsin in the following over when he was on 95, but a skied pull to deep midwicket was lost in the stadium lights by Shadley van Schalkwyk, who barely moved in off the boundary as the ball landed two yards in front of him for a single and he ended the over on 99. Jagadeesan had to wait at the non-striker’s end in the 16^th as India A captain Ayush Badoni torched van Schalkwyk for a four and two sixes before a single off the fifth ball finally put Jagadeesan on strike and allowed him to tap a single through point to bring up his century. 
 
Badoni continued to bring the heat in the 18^th over, pummeling Jessy Singh for 22 runs. But he should have been out for 38 when a skied chance was sent to Ranjane at cover sweeper only for a crouching chance to be clumsily spilled over the rope for six. Badoni wound up raising a 21-ball half-century in the 19^th when a cover drive for his fifth boundary to go along with four sixes at that stage. Jagadeesan’s innings finally ended off the final ball of the over when his attempted reverse swat to Ali Khan was middled straight to Mohsin at short third for 104 to make it 229 for 3. Netravalkar conceded a relatively tame nine runs off the final over to Badoni and Riyan Parag as Badoni ended on 60 not out off 26 and Parag unbeaten on 2 off 2 balls.
 
Ranjane wound up with USA’s best figures, conceding 1 for 12 off two overs. Netravalkar was the only bowler for USA to complete a full quota to end with 0 for 33. Khan and Singh finished with identical figures of 1 for 36 off three overs. Mohsin and Nosthush Kenjige each sent down a solitary over, giving away 0 for 10 and 0 for 14 respectively. Harmeet gave away 0 for 25 off his two overs. Van Schalkwyk leaked 0 for 32 off two while Milind was USA’s most expensive bowler after being wrecked in his two overs for 0 for 39. 
 
USA got off to a hot start in the first two overs of the chase as Gous peeled off five boundaries off the first 10 balls he faced to help take USA to 24 for 0 off two. But he wound up facing just six more deliveries off the final four overs of the Powerplay as a succession of partners failed to get him the strike. USA captain Monank Patel was bowled for 10 by a Ravi Bishnoi googly that skidded low to make it 32 for 1 in the third. Five balls later, Sai Mukkamalla fell for a duck when a skied chance over point was brilliantly taken as an over-the-shoulder catch by Varma running back from the 30-yard circle halfway to the boundary to give Khaleel Ahmed his first wicket at 33 for 2. 
 
Milind Kumar arrived and chewed up 18 balls to coast along to 18 before he finally fell to Bishnoi at the end of the ninth, lofting tamely to Parag at long-on to make it 72 for 3. Gous went seven balls later for 44 on the first ball of the 11^th, miscuing a pull to deep midwicket off Varma to make it 75 for 4. 
 
At that stage, USA needed 164 off 59 balls, but Krishnamurthi breathed life back into the chase taking on Varma during the rest of the over, pulling him for six over midwicket before driving him straight back over his head for back-to-back maximums. Another six over midwicket came off Parag in the 12^th before Krishnamurthi quickly read the length on a half-tracker by left-arm spinner Manav Suthar in the 13^th and cleared the leg side rope for his fourth six in his first 10 balls at the crease as he sprinted to 29. 
 
At the other end, Ranjane also quickly found his rhythm, hitting Bishnoi for two fours in a 12-run 14^th over. Krishnamurthi replicated that in style in the 15^th against the searing pace of Mayank Yadav, opening his wrists to guide a four through third man before following it up with a glorious straight drive for four more. The Krishnamurthi-Ranjane stand produced double-digit runs in every over they were together, adding 64 off 30 balls, before Krishnamurthi finally fell to Khaleel for 41 off 18 on the first ball of the 16^th when he drove hard at a full delivery that had enough pace for a thick edge to fly all the way to Parag at a very fine deep third to make it 139 for 5. Ranjane fell seven balls later for 28 off 17, pulling Badoni to Varma at deep midwicket to make it 154 for 6. 
 
In spite of that wicket, they still produced their best over of the day as the left-hand tandem of Harmeet and Mohsin whacked Badoni for 23 runs off the remainder of the over, including two sixes by Harmeet. Their brisk stand accounted for 35 off 10 balls before Harmeet fell to end the 18^th, bowled for 25 trying to back away to access the off side against Ashok Sharma’s pace. Jessy Singh lasted three balls to make 2 before he was bowled off Bishnoi’s last ball of the day for the leggie’s third wicket as the tailender missed a flat-footed swat to make it 194 for 8. Mohsin fell for 21 off the next ball to Naman Dhir at the start of the final over when an attempted reverse hit found Khaleel on the ring at short third. Khan walloped a six over extra cover off his first ball to take USA to 200, but fell two balls later to end the match when he drove to Sharma at long-on. 
 
Bishnoi was the only India A bowler to send down a full four overs, ending with 3 for 37. Speedster Khaleel returned 2 for 25 off three. Dhir ended with figures of 2 for 6 off just four balls. Sharma claimed 1 for 24 off three overs. Varma sent down one over to end with 1 for 15. Badoni didn’t bowl himself again after his solitary over accounted for 1 for 23. Yadav conceded 0 for 37 off his three. The other two of India A’s nine bowlers similarly failed to take a wicket as Parag ended with 0 for 14 while Suthar bowled three overs to finish with 0 for 18. 
 
USA’s remaining 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup warm-up match takes place against New Zealand in Mumbai on Thursday February 5.