Sam Harper leads Australia A fightback with superb century

Harper unbeaten century powers recovery

Australia A recovered from a perilous 16/3 to close the opening day of the second unofficial Test against India A at 282/7 in Puducherry, with Sam Harper leading a superb fightback with an unbeaten 101.

Harper, playing his first innings of the tour, reached his century off 146 balls and remained unbeaten on 101 from 153 deliveries, with seven fours and three sixes. He added a crucial 89 with Todd Murphy for the seventh wicket before Murphy fell for 33 moments before the end of day's play.

The turnaround was particularly striking given how quickly the visitors had been reduced to three down. After opting to bat, Josh Philippe, having moved up the order, fell for 5 in the eighth over. Sam Konstas followed in the next over while captain Peter Handscomb was dismissed for a 15-ball duck. Nachiket Bhute accounted for Philippe and Handscomb after Anshul Kamboj produced a fine opening spell.

Jason Sangha and Nathan McSweeney added 81 for the fourth wicket before Sangha was caught excellently behind the stumps by Kumar Kushagra for 46. McSweeney was dismissed by Mulani for 34, leaving Australia A at 104/5.

Liam Scott and Harper put together 84 for the sixth wicket, with Scott making 34 off 82 balls before becoming Nachiket Bhute's third scalp of the day. Harper accelerated in the final session to bring up his century.

Murphy made a patient 91-ball 33 before being bowled by Kamboj. Harper carried his bat through to stumps.

For India A, Bhute took 3-35 and Shams Mulani took 3-77, though Mulani bowled 14 no-balls as India A recorded 21 foot faults on the day.

Brief scores: Australia A 282/7 (Sam Harper 101*, Jason Sangha 46; Nachiket Bhute 3-35, Shams Mulani 3-77) vs India A