Published: Dec 05, 2014, 01:08 PM (IST)
Edited: Dec 05, 2014, 01:08 PM (IST)
Dec 5, 2014
The visiting Indian team had a good workout on Friday as their second tour game against Cricket Australia XI (CA XI) ended in a Draw in which the visitors had the upper hand. Though Indians started their innings poorly as Shikhar Dhawan was out first ball and India were slumped to one for one, and later 36 for two after Cheteshwar Pujara was dismissed for a 41-ball 22. That brought out Kohli to join Vijay, and the pair batted well to end Day One unbeaten.
From the start of Day Two, Indian batsmen maintained a healthy run rate. Both Vijay and Kohli scored half centuries. After spending a good amount of time at the crease, Both Kohli and Vijay had to retire themselves out in order to give some batting practice to the other batsman. Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma, looked in good touch, and their performance is encouraging for India’s campaign in the upcoming Test series.
Rahane retired out for 56 off 64 balls. Rohit unfortunately missed his half-century as he was run out for 48. Wriddhiman Saha then took charge of the innings and scored yet another fifty. That will boost his confidence ahead of the first Test. Indians were finally bowled out for 375.
When the CA XI came out to bat in their second innings, Indian bowlers specially Varun Aaron and Ishant Sharma gave them a tough time. Apart from these two, Umesh Yadav and Karn Sharma also rolled their arms over and got one wickets each. CA XI were struggling at 83 for five when both skipper decided to shook hand and end day’s proceedings.
Brief scores:
CA XI 243 (Jordan Silk 58, Sebastian Gotch 58*; Varun Aaron 4 for 41, Karn Sharma 3 for 57) & 83 for 5 (Jordan Silk 41*, Matthew Short 26 ; Varun Aaron 1 for 28, Ishant Sharma 2 for 8) drew with Indians 375 all out (Murali Vijay 60, Virat Kohli 66; Josh Lalor 4 for 59)
