In a bowling-dominated display, 14 wickets fell on the opening day of the first unofficial Test between Australia A and India A at Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay.
After being put in to bat, India were skittled out for 107, thanks to Brendan Doggett’s six-wicket haul. Ruturaj Gaikwad was the first to be dismissed as he was caught behind off Jordan Buckingham for a duck. After being named in the squad for the Border-Gavaskar trophy, uncapped opener Abhimanyu Easwaran couldn’t make a mark either, falling for a 30-ball seven, with Buckingham striking again.
As many as eight visiting batters recorded a single-digit score, Devdutt Padikkal top-scoring with 36 off 77. India, 86-9 at one stage, seemed to be falling short of the hundred-run mark, but Navdeep Saini’s 23 off 43, including two fours and a six, the only one in their innings, spared them any further blushes.
Indian bowlers strike early
In response, Australia had the worst possible start, with Mukesh Kumar snaring promising opener Sam Konstas for a duck off the third ball of the innings. Konstas trying to dive on the up off a ball that shaped away slightly led to his downfall.
In the fourth over, No.3 Cameron Bancroft met a similar fate as Konstas, with Prasidh Krishna adding to his wicket column this time. Australia lost their first two wickets for just nine runs. Soon, they slipped to 26-3 after Krishna sent Marcus Harris packing for a 29-ball 17.
The trio has been in contention for an opener spot in the senior team, left vacant by David Warner’s retirement. All three of them falling for low scores means Australia still have question to answer over who will partner Usman Khawaja when they play India in the first Test on November 22.
In a period of consolidation, captain Nathan McSweeney (29* off 110) formed a 53-run stand with Beu Webstar (33) before the latter departed in the 28th over. Australia went to stumps at 99-4.
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