File photo of Mukesh Kumar©
A six-wicket haul from pacer Mukesh Kumar helped India A stay in the hunt in their first unofficial Test against Australia A in Mackay on Friday. Australia A started the second day at 99/4, with their captain Nathan Mcsweeney (29*) and Cooper Connolly (14*) unbeaten. Previously they had lost Sam Konstas (0), Cameron Bancroft (0), Marcus Harris (17) and Beau Webster (39), with Mukesh taking two of these scalps. Mukesh removed Connolly for 37, ending a 51-run partnership with McSweeney. Josh Philippe was also dismissed by Mukesh for four runs. Nitish Kumar Reddy got McSweeney for 39 in 131 balls, with four boundaries.
Australian batters could not put up much of a fight against the Indian pace and they were bowled out for 195 runs.
Mukesh picked up six wickets for 46 runs in 18.4 overs. Prasidh Krishna took 3/59 in his 18 overs while Nitish got one wicket.
Australia A secured an 88-run lead over India A, who were bowled out for just 107 runs in their first innings. Devdutt Padikkal (36 in 77 balls, with two fours) and Sai Sudharsan (21 in 35 balls, with a boundary) and Navdeep Saini (23 in 42 balls, with two fours and a six) played some crucial knocks for India.
Brendan Doggett (6/15) was the bowlers' choice for Australia A in 11 overs. Jordan Buckingham got two wickets, while Todd Murphy and Fergus O'Neill got one wicket each.
India A is now playing their second innings and would be aiming for a huge lead.
Topics mentioned in this article
