India A lose to West Indies A

St. George`s (Grenada): West Indies A beat India A by two wickets in a low-scoring first of the three match One-Day series at the National Stadium here.

After being dismissed for 190, the Indians looked like pulling it off when they reduced West Indies to 158 for eight before a critical, unbroken 35-run stand between skipper Veerasammy Permaul and tail-ender Nikita Miller steered the hosts to victory without further loss with three balls to spare on Wednesday. Man-of-the-Match Permaul, who was earlier chiefly responsible for restricting India`s score taking four wickets, was 22 not out while Miller chipped in with 12 to give West Indies a 1-0 lead in the series. India, bowled out off the last ball of the innings after winning the toss, got a good start with Ajinkya Rahane top-scoring with 58 his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan getting 30. Manoj Tiwary (26) and Jalaj Saxena (22) were the only other batsmen to cross 20. Permaul`s four wickets with steady left-arm spin came for a measly 28 runs while seamers Jason Holder (2/30) and Jonathan Carter (2/41) chipped in with wickets at crucial stages. West Indies A lost Test opener Adrian Barath for five early in the run chase and fellow Test opener Kieran Powell followed soon (42/2) after hammering a brisk 25 off 24 balls with three fours. Out-of-form Test batsman Kirk Edwards then stroked 33 off 44 balls with two fours and a six to add 29 for the third wicket with Nkrumah Bonner (14). When Bonner perished at 71 for three, Edwards combined with top-scorer Jonathan Carter (39) to put on another 27. Edwards departed with the score on 98, paving the way for a 54-run, fifth wicket stand between left-handers Carter and Assad Fudadin. Carter faced 75 balls and hit two fours while Fudadin, who made his Test debut on the tour of England, scored 26 from 44 balls. Both fell in a slide that saw four wickets tumble for six runs before Permaul blasted a four and a six off 13 balls to see his side home. Fast bowler Ashok Dinda finished with three for 35 while 21-year-old seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/14) and off-spinner Rohit Sharma (2/32) bowled steadily. Brief scores: India A 190 all out off 50 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 58, Shikhar Dhawan 30, Manoj Tiwary 26, Jalaj Saxena 22, Veerasammy Permaul 4-28, Jason Holder 2-30, Jonathan Carter 2-41) West Indies A 193 for eight off 49.3 overs (Jonathan Carter 39, Kirk Edwards 33, Assad Fudadin 26, KieranPowell 25; Ashok Dinda 3-35, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2-14) IANS