India a vs Australia a (source- cricket Australia/x)
India A suffered a second successive defeat to Australia A at Melbourne Cricket Ground. The batting unit once again failed to live up to the potential and that’s a worrying sign ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, slated to begin on November 22. The Ruturaj Gaikwad-led side only 161 runs in the first innings, out of which, 80 were scored by Dhruv Jurel.
Senior batter KL Rahul was added to the squad but he too failed to make a mark and that has put him in a difficult spot ahead of the five-match series against Australia. Abhimanyu Easwaran failed to make a mark as well. Among bowlers, Prasidh Krishna looked impressive as he picked up a four-wicket haul while Mukesh Kumar clinched three but, Australia A managed a lead of 64 runs lead in the first innings.
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Nothing much changed for the visitors in the second innings. The top order once again struggled as Easwaran departed for 17 runs, while Rahul made 10. Sai Sudharsan, Gaikwad and Devdutt Padikkal 3,11 and 1 runs respectively. The onus fell on Jurel and he delivered again, scoring 68 runs. Nitish Reddy and Tanush Kotian did well, scoring 38 and 44 runs respectively, as India posted 229 runs on board. Australia A’s Corey Rocchiccioli picked up four wickets.
Chasing 169 runs in the fourth innings, the hosts faced some difficulties early on. Prasidh sent Marcus Harris and Cameron Bancroft back to the pavilion in the first over itself, which put Australia A on the backfoot. Soon after that, Mukesh dismissed Nathan McSweeney and Kotian picked up the wicket of Oliver Davies but since then, nothing worked in India’s favour.
Australia probable Sam Konstas played a brilliant knock of 73 runs as Australia A won the match by six wickets. Apart from the flop batting show, Gaikwad’s captaincy needs to be monitored as well, as some of his bowling changes looked unnecessary. However, it might have been a desperate attempt as the game was slowly getting out of India A’s reach.