India A vs Australia A tied: Again worrying signs at the top as India A’s hitters failed to stay in the fold during the second inning of the three-day practice match against Australia A here at the Drummoyne Oval on Tuesday. While the game ended in a draw, at one point it looked like Australia’s unit A would walk away with a win. But it was Wriddhiman Saha who showed some fighting and managed to keep the host bowlers at bay.
While the Ajinkya Rahane-led team declared their second inning at 189/9, setting Australia A to a goal of 131 in approximately 15 overs, neither batter got off the ground in the second inning and at one point, the side was facing towards down at 143/9. But in the end, Saha managed to salvage some pride while playing an undefeated 54-run. Australia A lost Joe Burns’ wicket (0) in the first over of innings and after that, the team looked to play the remaining overs. In the end, the three-day match ended in a draw.
Earlier, resuming the third day at 286/8, Australia A added 20 more runs to their tally and the hosts finally declared at 306/9, leading 59 runs over the visitors. Cameron Green was unbeaten at 125, while for India, Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Siraj started three wickets apiece.
For India A, Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill once again failed to get a great score behind them. The two starting hitters were fired by Green after hitting 19 and 29 hits respectively. Gill looked good during his brief stint on the fold, hitting five limits, but his firing left a lot to be desired for someone looking to make the test team.
Cheteshwar Pujara, who scored a fight 54 in the first inning, failed to register a run in the second inning and Michael Neser ruled him out for a duck. Hanuma Vihari then joined skipper Ajinkya Rahane and the duo made up some of the visitor tickets. The two made 54 runs for the fourth wicket, but as soon as India A started to look settled, Michael Neser provided the lead for Vihari (28). Soon after, Mark Steketee fired Rahane (28), Ravichandran Ashwin (8) and Kuldeep Yadav (0), putting the visitors on defense at 129/7, 70 runs ahead of Australia A.
India A looked set to be eliminated for little money, but Saha and Kartik Tyagi managed to frustrate the hosts, and the former also brought their half century. Both batsmen formed a 46-run 10th wicket undefeated partnership, and India A declared on 189/9.
Brief Scores: India 247 / 9d and 189 / 9d (Wriddhiman Saha 54 *, Shubman Gill 29; Mark Steketee 5-37); Australia A 306/9 (Cameron Green 125 *, Tim Paine 44; Umesh Yadav 3-48) and 52/1 (Marcus Harris 25 *, Will Pucovski 23; Umesh Yadav 1-14)
Earlier, resuming at 237/8, the India A team led by Ajinkya Rahane added 10 more runs to their night total before declaring their innings at 247/9. Rahane was unbeaten at 117. Coming into bowling, Umesh Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin were seen in their prime as the duo dismantled Australia A’s top order and only Marcus Harris (35) was able to show some fighting in between. Australia A lost ground at regular intervals with Umesh firing Will Pucovski (1) and Joe Burns (4), while Ashwin sent Harris (35) and Nic Maddinson (23) back to the pavilion. Mohammad Siraj also landed a wicket when he cleared out bowling captain Travis Head (18), reducing the hosts to 98/5.
However, Cameron Green and Tim Paine met in the crease and both hitters frustrated the visitors by mixing caution with aggression. Green was the more aggressive of the two and liked the Indian bowling attack.
Both batsmen made 104 runs for the sixth wicket, however, after the tea interval, it was once again Umesh who provided the team with a much-needed breakthrough. Prithvi Shaw caught Paine (44), reducing Australia A to 202/6. Soon after, Siraj sent James Pattinson (2) to the pavilion, giving India A hope of leaving with an advantage.
Michael Neser then provided much-needed support for Green in the middle and the duo made 49 runs for the eighth wicket and this brought Australia A ahead in the match. However, in trying to get a quick single, Neser (33) ended up running out of steam, reducing Australia A to 269/8. In the end, Green (114 *) and Mark Steketee (1 *) saw the remaining overs on the day.
Brief scores: India 247/9 (Ajinkya Rahane 117 *, Cheteshwar Pujara 54; James Pattinson 3-58); Australia A 286/8 (Cameron Green 114 *, Tim Paine 44; Umesh Yadav 3-44)
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