Shami set the tone with three windows opening the attack
After suffering at the hands of Jack Wildermuth and Sean Abbott, India put forth a good response that would have thrilled the leadership of the endless team. India retired for just 194, but responded strongly through their pacing quartet, ably led by Mohammed Shami, to end a rugged 20-wicket Day 1 in Sydney with an 86-run lead in the first inning.
By opting to hit, India got off to a safe start despite Mayank Agarwal’s early departure, as Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill gave a good account of themselves. But once Cameron Green broke his joyous 63-run position, and Jack Wildermuth ended the recovery attempt orchestrated by Gill and Hanuma Vihari, India fell into a downward spiral.
However, shortly after the middle of the day, Jasprit Bumrah’s never-before-seen hitting sharpness became the talking point for the visitors. Picking up the pieces after India was down to 116-by-8, she entertained her way into a first-class half-century maiden, interwoven with back foot punches through blankets and comfortable gorilla hook shots.
The Indian Balcony greatly enjoyed this new facet of Bumrah’s game and welcomed him with a comical honor guard when he came back undefeated at 55 (out of 57).
In a frustrating period of play for the hosts, they also suffered a scare when Cameron Green was hit to the head by a shot from Bumrah, while on his delivery stride. He quickly recovered, but any further participation in this match has been ruled out in the evaluation.
In the second inning, Australia’s struggles to solve the conundrum of its first starters continued as Joe Burns followed his disappointing returns in the first warm-up game (4-0) with another in Sydney when he was sent packing for a second ball. Bumrah.
Nic Maddinson and Marcus Harris rebuilt to a quiet 30-run position before rain forced players off the field for more than 30 minutes. He played a bit of hide and seek for a while, before play resumed and the India locks found their rhythm.
Just nine balls after the restart, Harris hit a long ball from Shami on the first slide. In the same way, Ben McDermott was declared under low birth weight, although the option of a review would have overturned the original decision.
The fast windows frustrated Nic Maddinson, and he sought to break the shackles by throwing a short ball off Mohammed Siraj’s stump, but Wriddhiman Saha covered a good amount of ground by running back from the middle and took a dive catch to reduce the home team to 52 for 4. Shami’s accuracy with his length brought in a fifth wicket with just 56 on the board.
While the pacemakers were getting a lot of support at the wicket under the lights, some of the Australia A hitters were also guilty of chasing deliveries who could have safely offered trial.
Wildermuth did it first against Bumrah, and in the space of four balls Will Sutherland repeated the error against Navdeep Saini to leave the locals fighting 84 for 7. Saini, who had not been thrown the ball until 22 on, had an instant impact, as he soon got Alex Carey away from his body and hit Rishabh Pant.
There was no spike in late orders for Australia A as Saini eliminated Swepson to bring his wicket tally for innings to three, and Harry Conway dropped to a run that ended Australia A’s innings and the day.
Brief scores: Australia A 108 (Alex Carey 32, Marcus Harris 26; Mohammed Shami 3-29, Navdeep Saini 3-19) track India194 (Jasprit Bumrah 55 *, Shubman Gill 43, Prithvi Shaw 40; Sean Abbott 3-46, Jack Wildermuth 3-13) for 86 runs
.
