India A rescue draw on final day in Puducherry

Yash Rathod and Tushar Deshpande scored dogged half-centuries while Player of the Series Shams Mulani batted 131 balls at No.9 as India A salvaged a thrilling draw in the second of the two unofficial Tests against Australia A in Puducherry.

Set a daunting fourth-innings target of 365, the hosts survived a five-wicket haul from Liam Scott and eked home to a draw with just one wicket remaining. For the record, they were 55 runs short of an improbable win. India A had already clinched the series courtesy of the 162-run victory in the first game.

Final day swings in Puducherry

The final day of the four-day contest swung wildly. Australia A had been pushing for the win from the get-go and India A had their task cut out, given their batting had imploded to 167 all out in the first innings. The pitch, which offered the occasional low bounce, had progressively deteriorated although it had also become a tad slower, allowing batters little more time to read deliveries off the wicket.

The hosts’ resistance began from an unlikely source. Tushar Deshpande scored 52 batting as the nighthawk at No.3. More importantly, he played out 119 balls, taking out valuable time from the game. He put on a useful partnership with captain Devdutt Padikkal, who made only 26 before falling to a superb catch from Josh Philippe standing up to the stumps for medium-pacer Liam Scott.

Deshpande was solid with his defence through his 180 minutes in the middle and was eventually dismissed when a delivery from Liam Hatcher held up on the surface, drawing him into an early shot to offer a simple catch to long-off.

Middle-order wobble and counter-attack

Shaik Rasheed walked out with a counter-attacking mindset, hitting eight boundaries in his 45-ball 38, briefly raising hopes of a win. But he played back to a full ball from Nathan McSweeney and was trapped in front of the stumps.

The hosts then lost star batter Kumar Kushagra when a ball from Scott shot at ankle height and dislodged the stumps. When Tanush Kotian fell to Corey Rocchiccioli, the writing appeared to be on the wall. India A were seven down for 199 with another session of play to go.

Rathod and Mulani dig in

It was then that the pair of Rathod and Mulani got together. While the latter defended resolutely, Rathod kept picking the runs on offer to ensure one result wasn’t completely ruled out of the contest, as outlandish as it might have been.

Peter Handscomb rotated his bowlers around and the spinners got through their overs quickly enough to give him more than enough time to take those remaining wickets. As it turned out, Rathod and Mulani weren’t easily dislodged. They batted 216 balls for their 85-run stand.

Just when it looked like they would bat the team to safety, Scott conjured another twist. Rathod fell LBW for 80. Scott also managed to beat Mulani’s defence two overs later to put the visitors one wicket away from a win.

India A had to summon out their substitute No.11, Praful Hinge, who came out to bat because Anshul Kamboj was called up to join the senior team in Chandigarh. Hinge batted out six crucial balls while Nachiket Bhute, who began this game three days ago with a fine opening spell, saw off 21 deliveries before the teams shook hands for a draw under the fading Puducherry sun.

Brief scores

Australia A 358 & 173/4 decl. drew with India A 167 & 310/9 (Yash Rathod 80, Tushar Deshpande 52; Liam Scott 5-37)