India A 234 (Mhatre 65, Subrayen 5-61) and 277 for 7 (Pant 90, Badoni 34, van Vuuren 3-56) beat South Africa A 309 (Jordan 71, Hamza 66, Rubin 54, Kotian 4-83) and 199 (Hamza 37, Senokwane 37, Kotian 4-26) by three wickets

An unbroken eighth-wicket stand of 62 between Anshul Kamboj and Manav Suthar guided India A to a thrilling three-wicket victory over South Africa A in the first four-day fixture at Bengaluru's Centre of Excellence on Sunday.

India A's chase of 275 looked on shaky grounds when they lost three quick wickets - all to short-pitched bowling - in the morning session. Then Suthar, with a first-class highest of 96, stonewalled the fast bowlers into frustration, allowing Kamboj to feast on some tired bowling in the second session to seal victory.

Resuming on 119 for 4, India A needed a further 156 runs with six wickets in hand, and Rishabh Pant took charge in typically explosive fashion. Unbeaten overnight on 64, Pant launched Okuhle Cele over extra cover for six off just the second ball of the day in a 14-run opening over. He was at his audacious best, forcing the fast bowlers to abandon their fuller lengths and switch to a barrage of short deliveries from around the wicket.

Unruffled, Pant continued to counterattack - pulling with authority and even launching Tiaan van Vuuren for six over deep midwicket when the left-armer overpitched slightly. But van Vuuren struck back in the same over, banging one in short as Pant advanced, only for the ball to loop off the splice of the bat to slip.

Pant departed for a scintillating 90 off 113 balls, an innings studded with 11 fours and four sixes, three of them against the spinners, to give the visitors an opening. But the chase was far from over as Ayush Badoni displayed an array of attractive flick shots as the fast bowlers attacked the stumps to extract a hint of reverse against the old ball.

However, every now and then they kept banging it into the body - with both Badoni and Tanush Kotian falling in eerily similar fashion, out hooking to fine leg. At 215 for 7, South Africa A smelt victory with van Vurren, who accounted for Rajat Patidar, Pant and Badoni, breathing fire. This was when Suthar was happy to weave away from bumpers, take blows on the body and fight to survive - giving India A some cushion.

With 17 needed, Kamboj - also hit on the helmet by van Vurren's bouncer - used the long handle to slog sweep offspinner Prenelan Subrayen for six to bring the target within touching distance. Kamboj wasn't blindly slogging for much of his knock; he was a bit more adventurous in trying to throw the fast bowlers off their lengths.

Occasionally, luck favoured him too, like when one pull shot flew off a top-edge for four and another landed short of two fielders on the leg side fence. But with 11 needed, a heave flew off wide of short third off a thick edge to bring the target within single digits. Suthar hit the winning runs when he charged down the pitch to loft Subrayen over mid-on.

Kamboj finished unbeaten on 37 to take away a confidence boosting performance from the match, along with an impressive 3 for 39 in the second innings that triggered South Africa A's slide on the third afternoon. In displaying enough batting resilience, Suthar showed there's more to him than just classical left-arm spin, which brought him four wickets.

The pick of India A bowlers, however, was Kotian, who picked up four-fors in both innings - displaying control and guile in equal measure to showcase to the selectors why he can be an able back-up for Washington Sundar in the Test squad.

There was also some batting time for B Sai Sudharsan in the first innings, although he'd have been disappointed with his manner of dismissals in both innings. In the first, his outside edge got him into trouble as he was out nicking. In the second, he was beaten on the inside edge, lbw to an in-ducker.

Ayush Mhatre hit an attractive half-century in the first, while Devdutt Padikkal, who was part of the Test squad for West Indies, missed out in both innings even as Karun Nair, the man he displaced, continued to pile on the runs in the Ranji Trophy.