India A wrapped up a handsome 162-run win in the first unofficial Test against Australia A in Puducherry shortly after Lunch on the fourth day. On a pitch where batting became increasingly difficult with the uneven bounce and turn on offer, the Australian batting line-up crumbled with only Nathan McSweeney and Fergus O’Neill offering some kind of resistance.
For the hosts, a complete bowling performance from pacers Anshul Kamboj and Tushar Deshpande led the way after Australia A resumed the final day on 55/2 in pursuit of 363. McSweeney and captain Peter Handscomb began positively and picked up a few early boundaries, but the uneven bounce in the surface undid both batters in contrasting fashion. Kamboj got one to rear off a length, catching McSweeney by surprise as the ball flew off his glove to gully. Two overs later, Handscomb had no answer to one that kept considerably low and was bowled.
That was the order of proceedings once Deshpande replaced Kamboj and extracted reverse swing himself. He castled Josh Philippe with a sharp nip-backer, as the wicketkeeper walked off bemused by the lack of bounce off a length. Liam Scott was in for a shock of his own as Deshpande pitched the first ball shorter, only for the right-hander to meet the same fate. Jason Sangha, who approached his innings positively, stepped out and launched Tanush Kotian over long off for a six. But the offspinner cleverly switched angles and cleaned Sangha up on the sweep, leaving Australia A reeling at 124/7.
O’Neill and Todd Murphy then combined for a 67-run partnership – the highest of the innings. After a steady start, O’Neill took the attack to Kotian, pouncing on anything too short while also nailing a slog-sweep for six. With Murphy remaining solid at his end, Australia A got through to Lunch without losing further wickets. But Shams Mulani, who picked up a four-fer in the first innings, didn’t take long to wrap up proceedings as he picked up the last three wickets. O’Neill fell short of a fifty as he slog-swept one to deep mid-wicket, while the final two wickets fell to two excellent diving catches. Sai Sudharsan snaffled the first of those at leg gully to remove Murphy, before Shaik Rasheed charged in from long off to bring the curtains down on the contest.
Earlier in the game, India A scored 334 in the first innings thanks to Kumar Kushagra’s 113 and half-centuries from Kotian and Sudharsan. Australia A could only manage 171 in response, before captain Devdutt Padikkal top-scored with 59 in the hosts’ second essay as India A were bowled out for 199. On a surface that got progressively worse to bat on, a lead of 362 proved comfortably sufficient for the hosts in the end.
Brief Scores: India A 334 (Kumar Kushagra 113, Tanush Kotian 69, Sai Sudharsan 57; Corey Rocchiccioli 4-95, Todd Murphy 3-77) & 199 (Devdutt Padikkal 59, Kumar Kushagra 46*; Todd Murphy 4-48, Brendan Doggett 2-21) beat Australia A 171 (Jason Sangha 46, Liam Scott 26; Shams Mulani 4-67, Tanush Kotian 2-31) & 200 (Fergus O’Neill 47, Nathan McSweeney 35; Tushar Deshpande 3-14, Shams Mulani 3-57, Anshul Kamboj 2-25) by 162 runs
