Published: Aug 10, 2015, 04:32 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 10, 2015, 04:32 PM (IST)
Karn Sharma, the India A legspinner, claimed three wickets that have helped India A stay in contention to win their contest against Australia A in Chennai. He flighted the ball potently, and besides the rare errors in length, has bowled accurately enough to entice batsmen to play the drive. He brought the hosts back into the game when Australia A opener Travis Head was batting confidently at 45, and India A were looking down the barrel at 98 for 1. Head danced down the pitch to play an attacking shot, was beaten in the flight, and was bowled. Then, at 153 for 2, Peter Handscomb and Chris Lynn wee going along well, when Handscomb decided to smash Sharma to midwicket for six, but instead provided a catch in the deep. Wade, at 177 for 5, lunged forward to drive Sharma through extra cover, but was beaten in flight and was bowled. LIVE UPDATES: India A vs Australia A, 4th match, Triangular Series, Chennai
The other spinners Akshar Patel and Karun Nair took cue from Sharma, and took crucial wickets themselves, of Lynn, who was bowled by Patel, and Ashton Agar, who was stumped off Nair. Callum Ferguson and Adam Zampa have since stuck around to gather a patient partnership to bring the match close.
Earlier, Travis Head scored 45 and Lynn scored 63, to lead their team’s chase and bring them to a commanding position. India A’s innings of 258 was built on half-centuries from Mayank Agarwal and Manish Pandey. Agar, the left-arm spinner, took five wickets — he brok the back of India’s middle-order and reduced India to a precarious position before Pandey lifted the side to get them past 250.
India A are playing today as South Africa A cannot participate in the competition today due to illnesses of their players. 10 of them have been reported to have visited the hospital du to food poisoning and heat related issues. Chennai today was predicted to have a temperature in the range of 30 degrees Celsius to 36 degree Celsius.
