With India A chasing a modest target of 168 set by New Zealand A, the result didn’t quite have the crowd on the edge of their seats. Anyway, ‘A’ series games are more about individual achievement and less about the collective performance. But on both counts,

S Badrinath was a happy man as he scored an unbeaten 69 to lead India A to a five-wicket win on Wednesday.

Badrinath didn’t just win the contest against the New Zealand bowlers, but also made a point to the national selectors as he stood out in company of other contenders for the Test spot.

With the score reading 60/4, that walk-in-the-park kind of target was made to look arduous by India A’s top-order with Robin Uthappa, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina in the hut.

By pulling his team out of the hole, Badrinath has staked his claim for a Test spot too. Ask Badri about his knock on Wednesday and he isn’t overexcited about it. “Such tight situations are not new for me,” he explains. “While playing for my state, I have been in these kind of situations many times. I am used to it. Actually, I love to be in the middle when the chips are down.”

Lending Badri a helping hand was Dinesh Karthik and the two stitched a useful partnership of 68. Kartik, though, failed to cash in on a good start and was out for 22.

And that meant it was left to Yusuf Pathan to provide the finishing touch to the win. In true slam-bang fashion, Yusuf stayed unbeaten on a quick-fire 34 that he managed in 20 balls. He started his innings with a six and it was his four that saw India A go past the New Zealand total.