Report: Ind ‘A’ vs Aus ‘A’ - Day 2

Australia A ended Day 2 of the four-day Test against India A with 185 for 4, trailing the hosts by 116 runs. India ‘A’ resumed from their overnight score of 221 for 6 in the 4-day Test against Australia ‘A’ with Vijay Shankar and Amit Mishra unbeaten at the crease, and were later dismissed for 301. The overnight batsmen added a half century stand for the seventh wicket with Shankar donning the role of the aggressor and Mishra holding one end up with patience. Mishra contributed 27 vital runs lower down the order giving ample support to Shankar who mixed caution and aggression, at times even willing to take the aerial route that fetched him a six - the lone six in the entire India ‘A’ innings. 

Mishra’s patience finally came to an end as Steve O’Keefe trapped him leg before wicket. His dismissal marked the beginning of a slide as India ‘A’ lost their next three wickets for just 18 runs. O’Keefe was the wrecker in chief claiming all those three wickets and ending up with figures of 6/82 and India ‘A’ were bundled out for 301. Vijay Shankar though ended up with an unbeaten 51 to his name. 

Australia ‘A’ in their reply did not have the best of starts. They lost their first wicket in as early as the fourth over of the innings with the score reading just seven. Medium pacer Abhimanyu Mithun provided the first breakthrough for his side. Then began a partnership between Usman Khawaja and Travis Head as the duo went about putting up a 50-run partnership for the second wicket. Travis Head in particular looked confident scoring fluently. He was ultimately out caught by Amit Mishra off Pragyan Ojha’s bowling. He departed scoring 31. Pragyan Ojha then added more pressure sending back Khawaja 18 runs later and almost immediately sent back new man in Nic Maddinson for a duck. Australia were left tottering at 75/4. 

Peter Handscomb and Marcus Stoinis then played the next hour watchfully and tried to get their side out of the rut. They did it with success as the duo slowly began to get runs once they got their eye in. Both batsmen looked confident and got the better of the India ‘A’ bowlers. Australia ‘A’ did not lose anymore wickets in the day. Handscomb and Stoinis ended up with unbeaten scores of 75 and 42 respectively with their side registering 185/4 at stumps on Day 2.