AUS-A vs IND-A 2024: Mukesh Kumar wreaks havoc with impressive six-for
Mukesh Kumar's accurate bowling and seam movement caused a lot of problems for the Australia A batters in the first unofficial Test in Mackay.
On Day 1 of the first unofficial Test between India A and Australia A, being played at the Great Barrier Reef Arena, in Mackay, pacer Mukesh Kumar accounted for two wickets. The Bengal speedster added four more wickets to his tally on Day 2, to finish with excellent figures of 6/46 from 18.4 overs.
Mukesh bowled with a lot of consistency and kept the Aussie batters on their toes. He used the conditions to good effect and the movement he was generating off the seam was too hot to handle for the opposition batters. Mukesh, who is one of India's travelling reserves in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, took the wickets of Sam Konstas and Beau Webster on Thursday, October 1. The 31-year-old got the better of Cooper Connolly, who became his third victim and first on Friday.
In his next over, Mukesh Kumar dismissed the wicketkeeper-batter, Josh Phillipe. The right-arm seamer bagged his fifth wicket when he castled Brendan Doggett. Mukesh also picked the last Australian wicket to fall in the first innings as he ended Todd Murphy's gritty stay at the crease. Meanwhile, Prasidh Krishna, who is a part of India's Border-Gavaskar Trophy squad finished with figures of 3/59 from 18 overs. As a result, India A bowlers dismissed Australia A for 195, as the home side ended up with a first innings lead of 88 runs.
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Easwaran, Ruturaj miss out once again
India A needed their openers to step up in the second innings. However, both of them fell cheaply in a repeat of the first innings. Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was dismissed for a golden duck in the first innings, scored just five before being dismissed by Fergus O'Neill.
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Meanwhile, Easwaran was showing good resilience as he batted 32 deliveries for his 12 runs but an unfortunate run out ended his stay at the crease. At the Tea break on Day 2, India A reached 96/2, having taken a lead of eight runs. Devdutt Padikkal, who was the top-scorer for the tourists in the first innings, stitched an unbeaten 66-run stand with Sai Sudharsan before the break.
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