Till then, Jagadeesan and Sudharsan will be eager to play a long innings on a pitch that is still playing true after two days of action in rainy conditions
Josh Philippe
The retreating monsoon is playing spoilsport for the emerging players in the four-day match between India ‘A’ and Australia ‘A’ at the Ekana Stadium here. For the second successive day, a session was washed out; on the first day, it was the morning session and on Wednesday, it was the post-tea session, which saw no action.
However, the day had started in bright sunshine and Aussie keeper Josh Philippe made the most of it by scoring a scintillating 80-ball century as the visitors declared the innings at 532-6 in 98 overs, a strike rate of almost 5.5 runs per over. The home team were 116-1 before rain made its appearance at the tea interval and never relented. The umpires called off the day at 4pm for the Tamil Nadu duo of N Jagadeesan (50) and Sai Sudharsan (20) to resume the battle on the morrow.
The India ‘A’ bowlers could not make much of a dent on the second day, too, despite claiming the second new ball. Be it Prasidh Krishna or Khaleel Ahmed, the only bowlers having worn the Indian jersey, they could not shake overnight batters Liam Scott and Philippe. The third seamer, Gurnoor Brar, was able to break the partnership when he sent back Scott for 81 (122 balls, 8x4, 2x6).
However, Philippe completed his fifth first-class century and was unbeaten on 123 (87 balls, 18x4, 4x6) when the Aussies declared the innings half an hour before lunch. Interestingly, Philippe now has three centuries for Australia A, one each against New Zealand ‘A’, England Lions and now India ‘A’. His two other tons have come in the Sheffield Shield for Western Australia. For India ‘A,’ Harsh Dubey was the pick of the bowlers, returning three for 141, while Brar claimed two for 87.
When India ‘A’ batted, Abhimanyu Easwaran was lucky to escape being run out in the third over, but was castled by Scott with one that kept a bit low. Easwaran, who has been on five Test tours with India but is yet to debut, would surely not be very happy with the 44-run innings he played. All eyes on Thursday will be on skipper Shreyas Iyer, who will come in to bat at the fall of the next wicket.
Till then, Jagadeesan and Sudharsan will be eager to play a long innings on a pitch that is still playing true after two days of action in rainy conditions.
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
