The second warm-up game between Indians and Australia A is being played at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), a day-night affair in preparation for the first D/N Test to begin on Dec 17 in Adelaide.
Indians’ captain Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and chose to bat first. Indian top-order batsmen Shubman Gill (43 in 58 balls) and Prithvi Shaw (40 in 29 balls), hammered the Australia A bowlers, adding 63 runs in nearly 8 overs. Agarwal (2), Rahane (4), Pant (5), and Saha (0) failed to get going against the pink ball.
However, after their dismissals, India collapsed 123/9, before Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj (22) added 71 valuable runs. Bumrah hit 6 fours and 2 sixes in his entertaining 55*, his maiden FC half-century, which also earned him a guard of honor from his teammates.
Sean Abbott (3/46) and Jack Wildermuth (3/13) were the picks of Australia A bowlers. During the innings, all-rounder Cameron Green was hit on the head by a Bumrah straight drive, which ruled him out of the remainder of the game under concussion protocols and he was subbed with Pat Rowe.
The Australia A batsmen didn’t fare well either as Joe Burns, who is due to open the innings in Adelaide Test, fell for a duck. He had scored 4 and 0 in the first warmup game as well, and this dismissal didn’t give any confidence to the right-hander either.
Apart from him, Ben McDermott also scored a duck, while Marcus Harris (26), Nic Maddinson (19), and captain Alex Carey (32) fared pretty well against a terrific Indian pace bowling attack.
However, once Carey fell to Shami, caught by Pant, the wheels came off and Australia A were bundled out for 108 runs, giving Indians a lead of 86 runs, at the end of day one.
For Indians, Mohammad Shami (3/29) and Navdeep Saini (3/19) were the picks of bowlers, while Bumrah (2/33) and Siraj (1/26) impressed as well. All the bowlers mixed up their bouncers and full swinging balls pretty well to keep the Australia A batsmen on their toes.
BRIEF SCORE:
IND 194 (J BUMRAH 55*, S GILL 43; J WILDERMUTH 3/13) AND AUS-A 108 (A CAREY 32, M HARRIS 26; N SAINI 3/19)
Stumps, Day 1- Indians lead by 86 runs
