Pretoria: A scintillating double century (248 off 150 balls) by Shikhar Dhawan coupled with a 109 off 97 balls by skipper Cheteshwar Pujara steered India 'A' to a 39-run win over South Africa 'A' and helped them reach the final of the tri-series, here on Monday.
Dhawan's 248 is only the second highest individual List A score behind former Surrey batsman Alistair Brown, who scored 268 against Glamorgan at the Oval, on July 19, 2002.
Dhawan and Murali Vijay gave India A a solid start reaching 91 in the 12th over before Vijay fell to B Hendricks on 40. Thereafter, Dhawan found some solid support from Pujara (109 not out) and India A scored a massive 433 for three in 50 overs.
Chasing the huge target, South Africa A fought hard and made a match out it it before being bowled out for 394 in 48.4 overs. Reeza Hendricks (102, 78 balls, 12x4, 2x6) and Vaughn van Jaarsveld's (108, 91 balls, 7x4, 5x6) centuries were not good enough to take the hosts past the finishing line.
India A will meet Australia A in the final on Wednesday.
Brief Scores: India 'A' 433/3 in 50 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 248, Cheteshwar Pujara 109 no, Murali Vijay 40, Hardus Viljoen 1/94, Rusty Theron 1/98). South Africa 'A' 394 in 48.4 overs (Reeza Hendricks 102, Vaughan van Jaarsveld 108, Ishwar Chand Pandey 4/76, Jaydev Unadkat 2/79). India won by 39 runs.