A top-order onslaught on both facet of a three-hour rain interruption secured Australia A a nine-wicket victory over India A on the Inexperienced Park Stadium in Kanpur on Friday and levelled the three-match collection one sport apiece.
Jake Fraser-McGurk and Mackenzie Harvey (70 n.o., 49b, 10×4, 2×6) walloped their solution to 48 runs inside six overs. Fraser-McGurk had edged Arshdeep Singh to 3rd man within the third over, however a third-umpire verify deemed the catch was grassed and handed him a reprieve. He made the many of the let-off, slapping the left-arm pacer by means of covers for 3 consecutive boundaries in the identical over.
The opening burst meant Australia A wanted 112 runs off 115 deliveries when play resumed and the affair was decreased to a 25-over contest.
Harvey had flicked Harshit Rana over deep sq. leg earlier than the rain, and he emulated the shot in opposition to Yudhvir Singh submit resumption. Fraser-McGurk sliced Nishant Sindhu over lengthy off for one more most, however perished on the very subsequent ball, attempting the identical hit over deep covers.
Cooper Connolly took aside the tweakers in his 31-ball 50 as Australia A reached the 160-run goal within the seventeenth over.
A lopsided contest was not on the playing cards on the mid-innings break. Extra was anticipated from the Indian bowlers after Tilak Varma’s spirited 94 had obtained India A to a combating 246.
The southpaw had anchored India’s chase within the Asia Cup ultimate lower than per week in the past. On Friday, after India A received the toss and opted to bat, Tilak added to his credentials as a reliable middle-order bat by steering his facet by means of a top-order collapse.
The brewing anticipation round Abhishek Sharma’s inclusion met an anticlimactic finish when he chased a large supply and edged to first slip for a golden duck. Final sport’s centurion, Shreyas Iyer, then couldn’t defend his fort in opposition to a nip-backer from Jack Edwards, and India A sank deeper.
At 17 for 3, Tilak and Riyan Parag introduced up a century alliance to navigate by means of the early jitters.
An edge previous second slip on an tried cowl drive hardly made for a really perfect begin for Riyan. However his nerves had settled by the point he clobbered a free hit from Sam Elliott over the midwicket boundary within the eleventh over.
On the different finish, Tilak was relishing the duty at hand, plotting collectively India A’s restoration in singles. He waited for a beneficial match-up in opposition to leg-spinner Tanveer Sangha to go for his first huge hit. Tilak used the flip to choose deliveries from outdoors and swept them by means of sq. leg, first for a 4 after which a six.
Riyan punished width, particularly in opposition to Sam Elliot, whom he swatted down the bottom twice on his solution to a 49-ball century. However for a second-straight sport, Riyan threw it away as he was snaffled at mid on whereas attempting to hoist Will Sutherland down the bottom.
However Tilak didn’t veer off beam and held his finish at the same time as India A misplaced three wickets within the house of 18 runs. He picked Elliott’s size supply down the bottom earlier than unleashing a reverse sweep in opposition to Connolly for 4.
The putting attribute of Tilak’s essay was that he barely tried to bludgeon his pictures. Nothing gave a more true account of it than his boundary in opposition to Sangha, for which he stepped out, obtained to the pitch, and rolled his wrists on a drive to pierce the narrowest of openings between quick cowl and mid off.
HIGHLIGHTS | AUS A beats IND A by 9 wickets in rain-hit match
India’s tail didn’t make Tilak’s work simpler, preferring the fleeting thrill of slogging throughout the road over offering regular assist. Harshit Rana freed his levers for slogs over midwicket however perished for a 13-ball 21 when he charged down Sangha and supplied a vanguard to quick third man.
Yudhvir Singh Charak fluffed a regulation full toss to deep midwicket in opposition to the part-timer Harvey, who was rolling his arm over for the primary time. Ravi Bishnoi’s resistance lasted 30 deliveries, however even he couldn’t resist an on-sided heave in opposition to Sangha and picked deep midwicket on 26.
Left with last-man Arshdeep, Tilak deserted warning. He deposited Sutherland’s size supply, angling into his pads, past the sq. leg ropes. It was on one other tried heave, this one over lengthy off, that Tilak miscued a shot and met his finish.
Although Tilak was solely agonisingly in need of his century, India A missed a combating rating by a good distance.
Revealed on Oct 03, 2025