Chennai, July 23 (IANS) India ‘A’ left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha struck thrice in quick succession but Australia ‘A’ recovered from the setbacks to reach 185/4 at stumps on Day 2 of the first four-day cricket match at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here on Thursday.
The hosts managed to add only 90 runs before their first innings folded up 301 runs earlier in the day after resuming at their overnight score of 211/6.
For India, Vijay Shankar struck a much-needed unbeaten 51 and leg spinner Amit Mishra chipped in with a handy knock of 27 to help team cross the 300-run mark. For the visitors, Steve O’Keefe (6/82) was the pick of the bowlers as he singlehandedly demolished the home team’s batting.
In reply, Australia A faced an early blow as their opener Cameron Bancroft (2) was removed by pacer Abhimanyu Mithun in the fourth over of the innings.
His partner Usman Khawaja (25) and No.3 batsman Travis Head (31) put up a 50-run partnership but three wickets in quick succession by Ojha left the visitors struggling at 75/4 in 24 overs.
But an unbeaten 110-run fifth wicket stand between Peter Handscomb (75 not out) and Marcus Stoinis (42 not out) helped the visitors resurrect their innings and reach 185/4 at the close of the day’s play, much to India ‘A’ frustrations.
Brief scores: India A 301 (Vijay Shankar 51 not out; Steve O’Keefe 6-82) against Australia A 185/4 (Peter Handscomb 75 n.o., Marcus Stoinis 42 not out; Pragyan Ojha 3-52).