India A made a strong impression on Day 1 of the second unofficial Test against Australia A at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket
Stadium, Lucknow, on Tuesday, September 23. The team made several changes, with Shreyas Iyer unavailable due to personal reasons, handing the captaincy to wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel.
The hosts opted to bowl first after winning the toss, including India regulars KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, and Nitish Kumar Reddy in the playing XI. Ayush Badoni and Manav Suthar were included, dropping Abhimanyu Easwaran, Harsh Dubey respectively. Australia A also brought in Jack Edwards, Will Sutherland and Henry Thornton to their side.
The visitors' innings got off to a shaky start as opener Campbell Kellaway was dismissed for just nine runs. The second-wicket partnership between Sam Konstas and Nathan McSweeney steadied the innings, putting on more than 50 runs. Konstas fell for 49, dismissed by Mohammed Siraj on his return to red-ball cricket, while Oliver Peake contributed 29 runs. Cooper Connolly had a disappointing outing, getting out for a duck.
McSweeney played a patient knock of 74 runs from 162 balls, including 10 boundaries, before being dismissed by Gurnoor Brar. The wicketkeeper-batter Josh Philippe added 39 runs, while lower-order batters Will Sutherland and Corey Rocchiccioli contributed 10 and 2 runs respectively.
The standout performance came from Jack Edwards, who scored a brisk 88 from 78 balls, hitting 11 fours and a six. At the fag end of the day, the last two Australian batters, Todd Murphy (29*) and Henry Thornton (10*), remained unbeaten.
India A’s bowlers impressed, with left-arm spinner Manav Suthar claiming a five-wicket haul for 93 runs in 28 overs. Brar supported well with figures of 2/71, while Siraj and Prasidh Krishna took one wicket each. By the end of Day 1, Australia A were 350/9 in 84 overs, leaving India A in a commanding position heading into the next day.
