Puducherry, Sep 30 (IANS) Off-spinners Todd Murphy and Corey Rocchiccioli accounted for three crucial wickets to push India A onto the back foot and hand Australia A the upper hand on day two of the second and final four-day game at the Siechem Stadium here on Wednesday.
Bespectacled Murphy dismissed opener Sai Sudharsan (8) and plucky southpaw Yash Rathod (15), and Rocchiccioli scalped skipper Devdutt Padikkal (31) to leave the hosts struggling at 122/5 in their first innings with Shaik Rasheed (36 n.o.) and Tanush Kotian (6 n.o.) at the crease at stumps.
India A, which won the opening match by 162 runs, trail by 236 runs on first innings after Australia A, resuming at 282/7, finished at a strong 358.
The overnight pair of centurion Sam Harper and Jhye Richardson (31) took their eighth-wicket stand to 53, as the visitors played out the first session and were only bowled out 20 minutes after lunch, with medium pacer Anshul Kamboj dismissing Harper (128) and new man Liam Hatcher off successive deliveries.
Fast bowler Jhye Richardson dismissed opener Aayush Pandey caught behind in the first over, before left-handers Sudharsan and Padikkal put on 35 for the second wicket.
However, India A lost the trio of Sudharsan, Padikkal and Rathod for the addition of just 54 runs, and first-match centurion Kumar Kushagra subsequently fell lbw to fast-medium bowler Liam Scott to leave the hosts in deep trouble.
Brief scores:
Australia A 358 all out in 116.3 overs (Jason Sangha 46, Sam Harper 128, Anshul Kamboj 3-34, Nachiket Bhute 3-44, Shams Mulani 3-92) lead India A 122/5 in 51 overs (Shaik Rasheed 36 not out, Devdutt Padikkal 31; Todd Murphy 2-26, Liam Scott 1-10) by 236 runs.
–IANS
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