Left-arm spinner Shams Mulani delivered a stellar performance with a match-haul of 7/124, guiding India A to a dominant 162-run victory over Australia A in the first unofficial Test at the CAP-Siechem Stadium in Puducherry.
IMAGE: Shams Mulani celebrates a wicket for India A during the first unofficial Test against Australia A in Puducherry. Photograph: Shams Mulani/Instagram
Key Points
- Shams Mulani was instrumental in India A’s victory, claiming a match-haul of 7/124, including three crucial wickets in the second innings.
- Australia A, resuming at 55/2, were bowled out for 200, falling short by 162 runs in the first unofficial Test.
- Anshul Kamboj and Tushar Deshpande also contributed significantly with the ball, taking two and three wickets respectively in Australia A’s second innings.
- Fergus O’Neill was the top-scorer for Australia A in their second innings with 47 runs.
Left-arm spinner Shams Mulani claimed three wickets in the second innings to return a match-haul of 7/124 as India A registered a thumping 162-run win over Australia A in the first unofficial Test at the CAP-Siechem Stadium in Puducherry on Friday.
Australia A’s Second Innings Collapse
Resuming their second innings at 55/2 and needing another 308 runs for victory, Australia A were bowled out for 200, with Mulani wrapping up the innings by dismissing three batters, including top-scorer Fergus O’Neill (47, 52b, 6×4, 1×6), who was caught at deep midwicket.
Medium pacer Anshul Kamboj struck twice in the opening hour, removing overnight batters Nathan McSweeney (35, 75b, 5×4) and skipper Peter Handscomb (16) to put the visitors on the back foot.
Replacing Kamboj from the pavilion end, pacer Tushar Deshpande then dismissed Josh Philippe and Liam Scott off successive deliveries before off-spinner Tanush Kotian clean bowled Jason Sangha to leave Australia A struggling at 185/7 at lunch.
Match Summary and Upcoming Fixtures
Kumar Kushagra was declared Player of the Match. The second four-day match will be played here from September 29 to October 2, followed by three one-dayers.
Brief scores: India A 334 & 199 beat Australia A 171 & 200 all out in 55.1 overs (Fergus O’Neill 47; Anshul Kamboj 2-25, Tushar Deshpande 3-14, Shams Mulani 3-57, Tanush Kotian 2-57).