India ‘A’ took another decisive step towards winning the first unofficial Test against Australia ‘A’ despite a mixed batting performance on Day 3 in Puducherry. On a surface with progressively greater wear and variance, Devdutt Padikkal scored a fine 59 while Kumar Kushagra followed up his first-innings ton with an unbeaten 46. And although India ‘A’ folded for 199 in the second innings, those two knocks, combined with another steady 39 from opener Sai Sudharsan set the visitors a massive 363-run target. Australia ‘A’ batted 23 overs in the final session of the day, showed decent application but still ended up losing two wickets with victory still 308 runs away.
The hosts began the third day’s play having moved ahead by 163 runs at the end of two innings of the Test. Their primary objective was to stretch that lead beyond Australia’s grasp on a surface now offering uneven bounce. Aman Mokhade fell early to Liam Scott in a display of the challenges on offer. The ball simply shot through under knee level to trap the batter plumb in front of his stumps.
That early dismissal brought together two Indian batters who might well be competing for one slot in the Test side. Sudharsan and Padikkal showed their class by applying themselves on a tricky pitch and forged together a 68-run stand. As he displayed in the Tests in Sri Lanka, Padikkal backed himself to play the spinners off the backfoot and kept finding the boundary with remarkable frequency. Sudharsan also played well square off the wicket until he succumbed attempting to sweep Todd Murphy only to be deceived by a full ball that slipped under his attempted stroke.
Having worked their way to 93 for 1, the hosts losts the next four wickets for just 58 runs. Shaik Rasheed fell straight after the Lunch interval, caught and bowled by Tanveer Sangha while Yash Rathod was cleaned up by a superb delivery from Scott that angled in and nipped away. Scott also accounted for Padikkal when the southpaw attempted to swish a length ball over square leg only to miss it and wear it on his pads in front of the stumps.
Kushagra was left with only the lower order to add to the lead and decided to take his chances post the Tea interval. He charged out and launched Murphy for a pair of sixes but the off-spinner skittled through the tailenders at the other end to finish with a four-fer.
The visitors’ chase began somewhat comfortably as Anshul Kamboj struggled with his radar and sprayed balls down the leg side. His partner, Tushar Deshpande, though found his mark quickly and trapped Campbell Kellaway plumb in front of the stumps. Sam Konstas and Nathan McSweeney then showed a lot of patience, the latter doing well on a probable audition for a Border Gavaskar Trophy call-up early next year. He remained unbeaten through to Stumps even as Konstas fell just before close of play after Tanush Kotian ripped an off-break past his defence and into the pads.
Brief scores: India ‘A’ 334 & 199 (Devdutt Padikkal 59, Kumar Kushagra 46*; Todd Murphy 4-48) lead Australia ‘A’ 171 & 55/2 (Nathan McSweeney 23*; Tushar Deshpande 1-5) by 308 runs.
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