India ‘A’ bundled out for paltry 135

Kohli disappoints the few supporters who had come to watch him

July 30, 2015 12:38 am | Updated April 01, 2016 04:19 pm IST - CHENNAI:

Naman Ojha charges down the wicket only to be stumped by wicketkeeper Matthew Wade.- Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam

Naman Ojha charges down the wicket only to be stumped by wicketkeeper Matthew Wade.- Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam

India ‘A’ was stifled, pressured and then bent into submission on day one of the second unofficial Test against Australia ‘A’ here on Wednesday. The home side was dismissed for 135 and in reply, the visitors ended the day on 43 for no loss.

India ‘A’ elected to bat. There were five changes as Virat Kohli, B. Aparajith, Varun Aaron, Shreyas Gopal and Shardul Thakur came in for K.L. Rahul, Amit Mishra, Umesh Yadav, Vijay Shankar and Abhimanyu Mithun. The pitch seemed livelier than that of the first match. But it was still slower than desirable. A couple of attempted pulls by openers Cheteshwar Pujara and Abhinav Mukund early on didn’t even clear the inner circle.

Change does the trick

A bowling change earned Australia its first wicket with the score at 18. Marcus Stoinis, with his first ball, breached Pujara’s defence with an off-cutter that hit the top of the middle stump.

It brought India captain Virat Kohli in. It was a wish that the hundred odd supporters gathered at the ground all had and they seemed chuffed at it being so readily granted.

It didn’t last long though. A neat cover drive for four and a supremely elegant six straight down the ground in a 16-run knock were all they got. He was the third man to go, after Abhinav Mukund, playing half-cock and falling leg-before to Ashton Agar. India was 52 for three. 

After having started cautiously, India, towards the end of Kohli’s innings, went into a shell. From overs 19 to 29 when spinners Agar and Stephen O’Keefe bowled in tandem only 12 runs were scored. This period also accounted for two wickets — Kohli first and then immediately after, Shreyas Iyer, bowled off a beauty by O’Keefe which, after pitching on middle-and-leg, rattled the off-stump.

India went into lunch at a precarious 56 for four.

Repair work

A step up in the run-rate was required but a couple of quick wickets would have left the team staring down the barrel.

Naman Ojha was off the mark after 23 balls and he took another 61 balls to score the rest in a 10-run knock. Karun was assured in his defence, drove in front of the wicket neatly and displayed quick feet to rock back when the ball was pitched short and accounted for 46 of the 56 runs in the fourth-wicket partnership with Naman Ojha. 

The duo ensured that no wickets fell in the second session. But only 45 runs came from the 27 overs.

In the last half-an-hour before tea, the fast bowling duo of Stoinis and Andrew Fekete, bowled to a leg-trap with three men in catching positions. Then Fekete went around the wicket and supplemented the field with one more man. As much as it helped reduce the run flow to a trickle, a wicket proved elusive.

However, what the Indians had feared at the start of the second session happened in the third. Naman Ojha scored his first boundary with a wild heave over mid-on off a short and wide ball from Agar. Four balls later, with the score at 109, Naman Ojha decided to charge down the track but Agar dropped it short and beat him to let wicketkeeper Mathew Wade do the rest.

Five runs thereon, the leg-trap finally worked for Fekete. Karun was caught at square-leg after he failed to keep a flick down. He made 50 batted for almost three hours. Gurinder Sandhu then cleaned up the tail (7.5-2-15-3) with an impressive stump-to-stump line.

The scores:

India ‘A’ — 1st innings: Abhinav c Wade b O’Keefe 15, C. Pujara b Stoinis 11, V. Kohli lbw b Agar 16, Karun Nair c Burns b Fekete 50, Shreyas Iyer b O’Keefe 1, Naman Ojha st. Wade b Agar 10, B. Aparajith (hit wkt.) Sandhu 12, Shreays Gopal (not out) 5, V. Aaron lbw b Sandhu 0, S. Thakur c Ferguson b Fekete 4, Pragyan Ojha b Sandhu 0; Extras (nb-4, w-4, b-1, lb-2): 11; Total (in 68.5 overs): 135.

Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-44, 3-52, 4-53, 5-109, 6-114, 7-125, 8-125, 9-130.

Australia ‘A’ bowling: Sandhu 15.5-4-25-3, Fekete 14-1-33-2, O’Keefe 17-5-30-2, Stoinis 10-3-21-1, Agar 12-3-23-2.

Australia ‘A’ — 1st innings: C. Bancroft (batting) 24, U. Khawaja (batting) 14; Extras (nb-4, w-1, b-1): 6; Total (for no loss in 13 overs): 43.

India ‘A’ bowling: Thakur 3-1-11-0, Aaron 5-2-13-0, Pragyan Ojha 4-0-17-0, Aparajith 1-0-1-0.

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