India A v Australia A- Agar's fifer helps Australia A reach finals
India A v Australia A- Agar’s fifer helps Australia A reach finals: A shuffle in the Tri Series schedule meant India A took on the unbeaten Australia A in their 3rd match on Monday in Chennai. India had to take the field, for a consecutive second day, and considering the Chennai heat that was never going to be easy. It pretty much showed up as the Aussies secured a comfortable 3-wicket win over the hosts. Australia A rested Joe Burns, who made a fabulous 150 in their last outing versus India A, alongwith Cameron Boyce, and Nathan Coulter-Nile. The home side won the toss and chose to bat on a pitch that had lesser cracks than yesterday’s surface.
Skipper Chand couldn’t do much, as Pattinson got him caught behind for 5. Mayank Agarwal and Manish Pandey then stitched together a solid third wicket stand of 72 runs. Ashton Agar who has been a tough nut to crack for the Indians then bowled the left arm spinner’s dream delivery to dismiss Agarwal. It turned from leg stump to take the off bail of the right hander. Kedhar Jadhav then hit a full toss to mid wicket where Ferguson took a simple catch to give Agar his 2nd scalp with no addition to the Indian total. Karun Nair didn’t last long either as India were quickly 4 down for just 115 on the board.
One couldn’t say that they were Indian batsmen facing a young Aussie spinner at home. Such was the venom in Agar’s spinning deliveries. Pandey pulled a muscle and the management took no risks as he went back only to return later on. As Axar Patel and Sanju Samson looked to resurrect the innings and took India past 150, hopes rekindled. But a rush of blood and Samson threw away his wicket trying to sweep Agar. Lower order contributions from Karan Sharma and Rishi Dhawan meant India A posted a respectable 258. Ashton Agar was the star of the show as he picked up five wickets while the leg spinner Zampa bowled economically.
Australia A once again got off to a brisk start, with Travis Head playing the role of the aggressor in the opening partnership. Skipper Khawaja though failed to register a 50 plus score for the first time in the series. By the time he got out on 18, Australia A had already gone past 50 in the ninth over. Lynn came out and put India A under even more pressure with an enterprising knock. He was the highest scorer for the Australians, making 63 off 61 balls. Even though Head fell five short of his fifty, Handscomb provided good support to Lynn, adding 59 runs for the third wicket.
Although Australia A lost some quick wickets during the middle overs, their lower-order remained calm. In fact at one point, India A’s hopes of winning the game must have been high when they reduced their counterparts to 178/6, but Callum Ferguson and Adam Zampa put on 80 runs for the seventh wicket to seal Australia A’s place in the final.
The Indian seamers, especially Sandeep and Dhawal were not upto the mark today. Indian spinners got turn, but apart from Karn Sharma, they lacked precision. Karn bowled beautifully to pick up 3-45 and alongwith Axar was able to restrict the Aussie run flow to an extent. As it turned out, it was never enough as Australia A chased down the target with 9 balls to spare. This might not have been like the previous crushing victories for Australia A but they will cherish it all the same. They are now confirmed of a berth in the final, which was never in doubt anyway.
Brief Scores:
India A – 258-9 50 overs, (Agarwal 61, Pandey 50; Ashton Agar 5-39)
Australia A – 262-7; 48.3 overs (Chris Lynn 63, Travis Head 45, Karan Sharma 3-45) won by 3 wicket, with 9 balls to spare.
Man of the Match – Ashton Agar 5-39
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