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Devdutt Padikkal and Sai Sudharsan's blistering knocks put India A in control against Australia A on Day 2 of the first unofficial Test at Mackay.
After stumps were called, India had posted 208/2 on the board, led by 120 runs, with Padikkal and Sudharsan unbeaten with scores of 80(167) and 96(185), respectively. Despite losing Abhimanyu Easwaran and captain Ruturaj Gaikwad early in the second innings, the southpaw duo negated Australia's bowling threat with ease. Fergus O'Neill drew the first blood by removing Gaikwad for a score of 5(6). Easwaran went on to run himself out for 12(32). With India reduced to 30/2, another low score started to appear on the cards. But the young duo brought India out of a peculiar situation by stitching up an unbeaten 178-run partnership. The partnership started to hurt Australia A, with captain Nathan McSweeney going on to use seven different bowlers to break through the partnership. Despite the variety of bowlers in front of them, Padikkal and Sudharsan kept their composure, dealt with each delivery with caution and piled up runs on the board. They pushed Australia to tinker with their bowlers and the field set-up throughout their exploits on the field. Australia toiled hard but left the field tattered at the end of Day 2. Earlier on Day 2, Mukesh removed Connolly for 37, ending a 51-run partnership with McSweeney. Josh Philippe was also dismissed by Mukesh for four runs. Nitish Kumar Reddy got McSweeney for 39 in 131 balls, with four boundaries. Australian batting could not put up much of a fight against Indian pace, and they were bundled out for 195 runs. Mukesh took six wickets for 46 runs in 18.4 overs. Prasidh Krishna took 3/59 in his 18 overs while Nitish got one wicket. Australia A gained an 88-run lead over India A, who were bundled out for just 107 runs in their first innings. Devdutt Padikkal (36 in 77 balls, with two fours), Sai Sudharsan (21 in 35 balls, with a boundary) and Navdeep Saini (23 in 42 balls, with two fours and a six) played some crucial knocks for India. Brendan Doggett (6/15) was the pick of the bowlers for Australia A in 11 overs. Jordan Buckingham got two wickets, while Todd Murphy and Fergus O'Neill got one wicket each. (ANI)
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