Middle order batsman Yusuf Pathan struck a strokeful century to guide India 'A' to an emphatic 81-run win over New Zealand 'A' in the Tri-Nation ODI series in Chennai on Sunday.
Yusuf struck a 127-ball 148 (9 fours, 9 sixes) to pull India from depths of despair and post a challenging 305 for eight.
The Kiwis tried to make a fight out of it, before falling short by a huge margin. The visitors were bowled out for 224 in 45.4 overs.
Openers Redmond (23) and Watling (23) started well. P G Fulton (42), Hamish Marshal (51) and Broom (33) consolidated but the lower order caved in meekly.
The Kiwis, who were cruising well at 168 for three in 34 overs, at one stage lost the plot after Marshall and Broom fell in quick succession thus ending their hopes of reaching the target.
Suresh Raina, who failed with the bat, rolled his arm over with his gentle off spinners and claimed four wickets.
Earlier, riding on Pathan's blitzkreig, India 'A' overcame a disastrous start. The batsman hit a nonchalant 127-ball 148 as India recovered from 66 for five in 12 overs to post 305 for eight in 50 overs, after they were asked to bat first.
The start was disastrous as openers Robin Uthappa and Swapnil Asnodkar fell in the first two overs without troubling the scorers.
Skipper Badrinath (22, 30 balls, 4 fours), Dinesh Karthick (26, 23 balls, two fours, two sixes), Suresh Raina (eight) fell in quick succession as three of the top five batsmen ran themselves out.
Yusuf, coming in at number seven, played a sensible game. He picked up the gaps well and rotated the strike along with Rohit Sharma (36, 48 balls, one four, one six), before using the long handle effectively in the end to swell the total past the 300-mark.
Yusuf steaded the innings adding 105 runs for the sixth wicket with Rohit Sharma in 22.1 overs before adding a further 59 for the seventh wicket with his brother Irfan Pathan (31, 41 balls) in 9.5 overs.
He went after the bowlers in the slog overs and added 75 runs for the eighth wicket in just six overs along with Piyush Chawla, who remained unbeaten on 16 of 15 balls.
Yusuf, who dominated the eighth wicket stand, fell off the last ball of the innings.
