Hilton Cartwright stranded on 99 as Aussies build on lead

Hilton Cartwright may perhaps be having one of the worst feelings in cricket. Having batted for the better part of half a day, he was stranded on 99 when the umpires unanimously decided to call it a day at stumps in the Allan Border Field in Brisbane. Nic Maddinson and Beau Webster also contributed with useful knocks as the Aussies now find themselves 150 runs ahead of the Indian total.

The day began with Hardik Pandya’s innings of 79 coming to a close after only a few deliveries had been bowled in the morning. The Indians also failed to make any significant additions to their overnight score as the Aussies came out to bat early on Day 2. However, little did they know about the blitz Shardul Thakur was about to hurl at them.

Travis Dean and Joey Burns fell to the irresistible swing of Thakur when the 25-year old snapped both batsmen up in quick succession. However, Nic Maddinson and Kurtis Patterson had other ideas when it came to building a partnership, something the Indians had failed to do during their batting innings.

While it was Maddinson who was impressing quite a bit with his amazing strokes and controlled aggression, it was clear that Patterson would be required to play a second-fiddle role. Sure enough, Maddinson smashed the ball to different parts before a sudden rush of blood saw him snapped up by spinner Jayant Yadav for 81. Hardik went on to claim the wicket of Kurtis Patterson as the duo had managed to put up an unprecedented 92-run stand.

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Enter Hilton Cartwright. Of course, Beau Webster also managed to impress with the bat, however, it was the brilliance of Cartwright that saw the Aussies take the probability of victory away from the Indians. The duo went on to add a fantastic 152-run stand as the Indian bowlers simply had no answers to their brilliance.

At the end of the day, although Webster lost his wicket, it seemed as though Cartwright wanted to complete his ton on the day. However, as luck had it, he was left unbeaten on 99 at the close of play with the Aussies on 319/5.

Brief Scores:

India ‘A’: 169 all out (H Pandya 79; K Richardson 4/37)

Australia ‘A’: 319/5 (H Cartwright 99*; S Thakur 3/71)

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