Australia A 195 and 139 for 3 (McSweeney 47*, Harris 36, Prasidh 1-17) need 86 more runs to win India A 107 and 312 (Sudharsan 103, Padikkal 88, O’Neill 4-55)
It may partly be a case of last man standing, but Ricky Ponting has backed Nathan McSweeney to fill the vacancy at the top of Australia’s Test line-up on a day when he impressed again in Mackay, while the Initial specialized contenders continued to falter. against India A.
Sam Konstas, Cameron Bancroft and Marcus Harris all made starts in a chase of 225 on a tricky course but were unable to convert them into big scores to leave much uncertainty for the senior team ahead of the second match in Melbourne next week. McSweeney, meanwhile, bowled positively from number 4 at the start of his innings and was unbeaten on 47 at the end, with Australia A just 86 runs short of their target and with seven wickets in hand.
Konstas played some clean shots on the off side before shouldering a delivery from Mukesh Kumar that whipped back and sent the stump spinning. As Australia selector Andrew McDonald mentioned last week, Ponting referenced Konstas’ lack of experience at the Test venues of Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane, where he has never played first-class cricket, in explaining why he had switched of opinion, having previously supported a call for Konstas.
“I thought about it a bit more, and he’s very young and probably hasn’t even played at grounds like the Optus Stadium or the Gabba,” Ponting told the ICC Review show. “He wouldn’t have played a pink ball [match] at Adelaide Oval neither. So there are many things against the young man, although there is no doubt that he has talent.
“Another thing I said then was that I don’t think they would go back to a [Cameron] Bancroft or [Marcus] Harris, because if they were willing to do that, they would have done it last year.
“So the only name that sticks to me more or less is Nathan McSweeney… he got the most out of any of those guys from the A game in Australia at the moment. And he’s got more experience. He’s captained Australia A in the past . , and he captains them now, so I’m now leaning towards McSweeney for that opening role at the start of the Australian summer.”
Ahead of the ongoing match against India A, McSweeney had said he felt his game could adapt to the opening and, heading into day four, he has now faced over 200 deliveries in a competition where the ball has dominated for long periods.
After batting conditions improved against an older ball on Friday, the bowlers once again dominated at the Great Barrier Reef Arena. India A lost their last eight wickets for 86 runs after a stand of 196 between Sai Sudharsan, who made his seventh first-class hundred, and Devdutt Padikkal.
The new ball was a threat as Australia A set out in pursuit. Bancroft, who had received a tough decision in the first innings when he was caught on the thigh pad, had a huge stroke of fortune when he was taken at slip for 4 off Navdeep Saini, but it turned out to be a no-ball. . Bancroft, however, failed to make the most of it even as he reached double figures for the first time in six innings in first-class cricket this season.
However, the delivery Bancroft received to finally be dismissed by Prasidh Krishna was excellent – a strong lift that stopped into a gully. It was the kind of delivery that suggested Prasidh could be a threat during the Test series on deliveries that are likely to have more pace than Mackay.
Harris, meanwhile, had performed promisingly in the testing conditions with a couple of drives off Saini suggesting he was gaining confidence. But playing forward to Manav Suthar, who was finding a turn, got a slim outside edge to one who went straight.
Earlier in the day, it was offspinner Todd Murphy who opened the game for Australia A. He had Sudharsan dragged shortly after hitting a classy century, and then added Padikkal for 88 lbw with a slider shortly before the new ball .
The hosts were a fast bowler due to a side strain suffered by Jordan Buckingham, but the remaining quicks shouldered the extra burden. Fergus O’Neill picked up three more wickets on the third day after one on the second day, including the crucial one from Ishan Kishan, who pushed to slip the ball in second after hooking it for six.
Beau Webster took a strong catch to remove Nitish Kumar Reddy from a full toss, and Murphy closed the innings with a deserved third wicket.
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