Updated: December 12, 2020 9:09:18 pm
Rishabh Pant and Hanuma Vihari prepared the victory for India in the preparation match. (Screenshot / cricket.com.au)
Rishabh Pant ran to a scintillating century in the final finale of the game on the second day of the second practice match at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday.
Pant, who threw 22 in Jack Wildermuth’s last over, hit the triple-figure mark in just 73 deliveries, a strikingly different throwback to Steve Waugh’s memorable Ashes tone on the same ground.
I’m so happy for you, answer all the enemies of @ RishabhPant17 bat Brilliant 💯 for you and you are the best WK batter in India right now You will play the 4 tests against Aus. #RishabhPant #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/6v9i8Yl4cC
– Cricket.Addictor_18 (@ cricaddict_18) December 12, 2020
Well played champion @ RishabhPant17 , happy to see a century score and I want to see 💯 score in Test match. @BCCI Please collect ODI, T20 as well. #AUSvIND #RishabhPant pic.twitter.com/qzFH8M1jBg
– Pachipulusu Prudhvi (@PachipulusuP) December 12, 2020
Needing 19 runs to reach his century when Wildermuth started the final on the second night, Pant hit him 4, 4, 6, 4, 4, to remain undefeated with an overwhelming 103 of just 73 balls.
In total, he hit nine fours and six six.
Rishabh Pant claims the job of goalie-hitter for the Adelaide test. Hammers 103 of 73 👏 pic.twitter.com/5ivqhliBPN
– Parveen Kumar Dogra (@kparveen) December 12, 2020
In the last playing session, Pant’s aggressive approach paid dividends as he crushed Australia A bowlers in every corner of the Sydney Cricket Ground, the southpaw strongly defended the wicketkeeper job in Adelaide ahead of the test specialist Wriddhiman Saha.
To cite one example of his punching power, Pant swept one over the corner of the cow for a six, leaving Nic Maddinson to search for the ball between the rows of chairs at the SCG.
At the end of the game, India stood strongly at 386/4 with an overall advantage of 472 runs, having led the home team by a negligible 108 in their opening innings on Friday.
Scorecard of India vs Australia A. (Screengrab)
Rishabh Pant did not play the first three-day preparation match and according to former India starter Aakash Chopra, the southpaw was also last in line on the Indian goalkeeping list at this point. However, with this blow, the debate around his selection will surely ignite.
(With PTI inputs)
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