Mulani’s seven-wicket haul powers India A to 1-0 series lead

In the first unofficial Test, India A defeated Australia A by 162 runs in Puducherry shortly after lunch on day four. The Australian batting lineup collapsed, with only Nathan McSweeney and Fergus O'Neill providing some kind of resistance on a pitch that made batting increasingly difficult due to its uneven bounce and turn.

After Australia A resumed play on the final day on 55/2 in pursuit of 363, the hosts were led by a complete bowling performance from pacers Anshul Kamboj and Tushar Deshpande. McSweeney and captain Peter Handscomb began positively and picked up a few early boundaries, but the uneven bounce in the surface undid both batters in contrasting fashion. McSweeney was taken aback as the ball flew off his glove and into the gully after Kamboj got one to rear off a length. Two overs later, Handscomb had no answer to one that kept considerably low and was bowled.

After Deshpande replaced Kamboj and extracted reverse swing himself, that was the order of the proceedings. With a sharp nip-backer, he castled Josh Philippe as the wicketkeeper walked off confused by the lack of bounce off a length. Deshpande pitched the first pitch shorter, causing the right-hander to suffer the same fate, shocking Liam Scott as well. Jason Sangha, who approached his innings positively, stepped out and launched Tanush Kotian over long off for a six. However, Australia A was reeling at 124/7 when the offspinner shrewdly switched angles and cleaned Sangha up on the sweep.

O’Neill and Todd Murphy then combined for a 67-run partnership - the highest of the innings. After a steady start, O’Neill took the attack to Kotian, pouncing on anything too short while also nailing a slog-sweep for six. With Murphy remaining solid at his end, Australia A got through to Lunch without losing further wickets. However, Shams Mulani, who took four wickets in the first innings, quickly completed the job by taking the final three. As he slog-swept one to deep midwicket, O'Neill missed scoring a fifty, and the final two wickets were taken by two excellent diving catches. Sai Sudharsan snaffled the first of those at leg gully to remove Murphy, before Shaik Rasheed charged in from long off to bring the curtains down on the contest.

Kumar Kushagra's 113 and half-centuries from Kotian and Sudharsan contributed to India A's earlier total of 334 in the first innings. India A were bowled out for 199 after Australia A responded with just 171 runs, with captain Devdutt Padikkal scoring the highest with 59 runs in the second innings. On a surface that got progressively worse to bat on, a lead of 362 proved comfortably sufficient for the hosts in the end.