The India A openers put on 174 for the first wicket in response to Australia A’s first innings 346.
Michael Neser didn’t add to his overnight score of 44, Shahbaz Nadeem dismissing him to pick up his third wicket of the innings. Kuldeep Yadav then ran through the last three Aussie batsmen to pick up five for 91, but not before Mitchell Marsh had gone to a well-played century. Marsh ended the innings undefeated on 113 off 204 balls.
India’s openers batted superbly in response, adding 174 before Ravikumar Samarth was trapped leg before by Ashton Agar with his score on 83 off just 126 balls. Two runs later, Marnus Labuschagne ran Abhimanyu Easwaran out for 86. Easwaran’s innings came off 165 balls and included 10 fours.
Captain Shreyas Iyer and Ankit Bawne added 41 for the third wicket before Mitchell Swepson had Bawne caught by Renshaw for 13 off 67 balls shortly before the close.
India A ended the day on 223-3, leaving them 123 runs behind with seven wickets remaining in the innings. Iyer is undefeated on 30 and Shubman Gill is six not out.
Agar bowled superbly in difficult conditions during the day, sending down 23 overs and conceding under two runs an over as he picked up 1-41.
The match is intriguingly placed but it will no doubt take a great bowling effort from one or two individuals to extract a victory from this Bengaluru pitch over the next two days.
Abhimanyu Easwaran on the Dravid-Dada influence and more.. https://t.co/XxlvmS6xL7
— Bagawati Prasad (@Baggs0404) August 17, 2018
Photo: Backpagepix
