2nd unofficial ODI: Kuldeep, Prithvi shine as India A win series

Kuldeep may not be part of India's World Cup T20 squad but the 27-year-old showed his potential with the ball. Brought into the attack in the 14th over, Kuldeep kept bowling in the right areas. However, success came his way in the final spell.

Kuldeep got onto the wicket-taker's board as he dismissed Kiwi No. 7 Sean Solia – caught by Raj Angad Bawa in his 9th over. The hat-trick arrived in Kuldeep's final over --- the 47th of the innings --- when he accounted for visitors' No.

9 Logan van Beek (4), No. 10 Joe Walker (0) and No. 11 Jacob Duffy (0).

The fourth ball of that over saw Kuldeep get rid of Logan --- caught at short cover by Prithvi. He followed that by having Walker caught by keeper Sanju Samson and trapping Duffy leg-before to bag his hat-trick. For the visitors, opener Rachin Ravindra (61) and Joe Carter (72) were the main contributors with the bat.

Kuldeep has taken hat-tricks twice earlier --- both in ODIs. His first was against Australia at the Eden Gardens in 2017 and he repeated the feat versus West Indies at Visakhapatnam two years later. "It is always great to get a hat-trick in any format of the game and getting one was very special," Kuldeep said after the match.

Having missed a major part of last season due to a knee surgery, Kuldeep made a tremendous comeback --- bagging 21 wickets from 14 games for Delhi Capitals in this year's IPL. Kuldeep credited former Australian allrounder Shane Watson, DC's assistant coach, for the turnaround. "I was confused (as to how to go about things) before the IPL.

Watson was the one who calmed me and told me not to think ahead of the game. He made me understand that the process is the key," he said. Kuldeep, who made a comeback into the Indian team during the series