Tamil Nadu batter Sai Sudharsan slammed a scintillating century in the India A vs Australia A 1st unofficial Test at the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay.
After an underwhelming outing in the first innings, the India A batters produced a much-improved display with the bat in the second essay. Sudharsan was the star in the second innings as he slammed 103 from 200 deliveries. He played a risk-free knock with no six in it. Sudharsan’s innings was laced with nine fours as he anchored the visitors with perfection.
While Sudharsan hit a ton, Devdutt Padikkal partnered him well for a 194-run-stand and hit 88. Ishan Kishan also contributed a bit in the lower middle order and scored 32.
India A had earlier scored only 107 in the first innings with Padikkal being the top-scorer for his 36. Only three batters – Padikkal, Sudharsan and Navdeep Saini could have scored into double digits.
In reply, Australia A made 195 with no notable big knocks. For India, Mukesh Kumar grabbed a six-wicket haul. He took out the rising opening batter Sam Konstas before ripping out the middle order. The Indians made 310 in the second innings and set up a target of 225 for the Aussies.
Notably, Sudharsan is not part of the main India squad for the Border-Gavaskar series. Only Abhimanyu Easwaran and Nitish Kumar Reddy from India A are part of the main squad with Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, and Khaleel Ahmed in the reserves.
India A’s Playing XI for 1st unofficial Test:
Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Baba Indrajith, Ishan Kishan (wk), Nitish Reddy, Manav Suthar, Navdeep Saini, Prasidh Krishna, Mukesh Kumar
Australia A’s Playing XI:
Sam Konstas, Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft, Nathan McSweeney (c), Beau Webster, Cooper Connolly, Josh Philippe (wk), Fergus O Neill, Todd Murphy, Brendan Doggett, Jordan Buckingham