India A are are currently up against Australia A in the second four-day fixture in MCG. The likes of Dhruv Jurel and KL Rahul were slotted into the India A side for this game. The first contest saw the hosts secure a seven-wicket victory in Mackay.
With Rohit Sharma unavailable, Rahul and Abhimanyu Easwaran are vying for an opening slot to partner with Yashasvi Jaiswal in the Border Gavaskar Trophy. However, both players failed to perform well. Let’s take a look at what has transpired in the game so far.
Batting first, India A were put under incessant pressure by the veteran pacer Michael Neser, who utliized the bounce and seam offered from the surface. He got better of Easwaran (0) and Sai Sudharsan (0).
KL Rahul got off the mark on the first ball with a delightful on-drive. However, three balls later, another seasoned pacer Scottt Boland pitched a good length delivery, which seamed away from the off-stump to take the edge of Rahul (4).
Neser then outfoxed Ruturaj Gaikwad (4) with a reaper of a delivery, as he induced the edge of the batter, through a late seam movement. The back-to-back dismissals left India reeling at 11/4 in the third over. At this juncture, Dhruv Jurel and Devdutt Padikkal arrived at the crease.
However, after Neser and Boland were given rest, there wasn’t much other bowlers could offer to disturb the flow of Indian batters. After understanding the nature of the surface, Jurel and Padikkal were steering the team well and securing odd boundaries.
It was the 25th over when Neser finally broke their 43-run stand by putting Devdutt Padikkal (26) into doubt about the length of the ball and was instead caught at gully.
Nevertheless, Dhruv Jurel was impressive to continue his impressive strokeplay and found confidence as his innings progressed. He stitched a crucial 39-run with Nitish Reddy (16), who was the last recognized batter.
Thereafter, Tanush Kotian (0) and Khaleel Ahmed (1) couldn’t contribute enough. As a result, in his bid to accumulate runs at a quick rate, was dismssed on 80 off 186 by skipper Nathan McSweeney. Prasidh Krishna scored 14 as the visitors were all-out for 161 in the second India A vs Australia A fixture.
Neser was the pick of the bowlers for Australia A with four scalps, while Beau Webster bagged three.
Australia A starts on a slow note
In response, Australia A started well, with Nathan McSweeney and Marcus Harris. As it looked they were on the right path, Mukesh Kumar got McSweeney holed out to KL Rahul for 14. Then, Khaleel Ahmed got better of experienced batter Cameron Bancroft (3).
At the time of writing, Harris (26*) and Sam Konstas (1*) are at the crease for the Australia A team. They are at 53/2 in the 18th over and still trailing by 108 runs in the India-A vs Australia-A today match.
Interestingly, the duo along with McSweeney and Bancroft are the potential contenders for an opening slot for Australia in the Border Gavaskar Trophy. The five-match IND vs AUS test series starts from November 22 in Perth.
