India A beat South Africans by eight wickets in T20 practice match

South African batsman AB de Villiers plays a shot against India A during their T20 practice match at Sports Complex Air Force Station, Palam in New Delhi on Tuesday.

New Delhi: Opening batsman Mayank Agarwal blazed to a 49-ball 87 run knock to help India beat South Africans by eight wickets in a T20 practice match in New Delhi on Tuesday.

South African batsman AB de Villiers plays a shot against India A during their T20 practice match at Sports Complex Air Force Station, Palam in New Delhi on Tuesday. Pic/PTI

It was the touring South African team's opening warm-up game. They are scheduled to play three Twenty20 matches followed by five One-Day Internationals (ODI) and four Test matches, starting in October.

Set a challenging target of 190, the India A team, propelled by Mayank and his 119-run opening wicket stand with partner Manan Vohra (56 off 42 balls), reached the target with two balls to spare.

South Africans won the toss and chose to bat. Left-hander Jean Paul Duminy's (68 not out off 32 balls) and skipper Faf du Plessis 42 (retired hurt) propelled them to a strong total, but it was not enough.