NEW DELHI: Ruturaj Gaikwad played a brilliant innings of 117 off 129 balls to guide India A to a comfortable four-wicket victory over South Africa A in the first unofficial ODI at Rajkot on Thursday.

Gaikwad, the standout performer from India's ODI and T20 squads, anchored the chase with composure and skill, steering the team past South Africa A's total of 285/9. The visitors had staged a recovery after a shaky start, having lost five wickets for just 53 runs in the 12th over.

India A got off to an ideal start thanks to left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh, who struck early by dismissing openers Rubin Hermann and Rivaldo Moonsamy. Prasidh Krishna added to the pressure by removing South Africa A captain Marques Ackerman, further tilting the contest in India A's favour.

South Africa A's lower order fought valiantly, with Dian Forrester (77), Delano Potgieter (90), and Bjorn Fortuin (59) staging a crucial rearguard effort to push their team to 285/9.

In reply, India A got off to a solid start with Ruturaj Gaikwad and T20 star Abhishek Sharma (31 off 25) putting together a 64-run opening stand.

However, Riyan Parag (8) and captain Tilak Varma (39) struggled to make a significant impact. The chase was steadied by Nitish Kumar Reddy (37 off 26) and Nishant Sindhu (29 not out off 26), who guided India A to victory in 49.3 overs.

India A lost Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan in quick succession but Reddy and Sindhu insured there were no further hiccups.

Reddy was released from the India Test squad on Wednesday to take part in the A series.

(With PTI Inputs)