Australia ‘A’ push hosts to the mat

After facing 42 balls spanning 51 minutes, the highly anticipated Virat Kohli show was over before it garnered momentum much to the dejection of the Chepauk crowd as the Indian Test skipper fell, lbw to left-arm spinner Ashton Agar for 16.

From there on, it was the domination of the Australia ‘A’ bowlers, who hunted in packs on a steamy day. An all-round bowling display aided by the ultra-defensive approach of the hosts, who opted to bat first, enabled the visitors skittle India ‘A’ out for 135 in 68.5 overs on the opening day of the second four-day match here on Wednesday.

At stumps, Australia ‘A’, showcasing aggression, were 43 without loss with openers Cameron Bancroft (24) and Usman Khawaja (13) well set to tackle the Indian spinners.

Marked by his characteristic footwork — neither forward nor backwards — skipper Pujara’s (11) laborious vigil at the crease came to an end as medium-pacer Marcus Stoinis found the gap between the bat and pad. Meanwhile, the stature of Kohli didn’t bother the two left-arm spinners — O’Keefe (2/30) and Agar (2/23) — an inch as the tweakers kept a tight lid on the scoring rate.

After dismissing Abhinav Mukund caught behind for 15, O’Keefe joined hands with Agar to break the back of India ‘A’ batting line-up.

Their combined spell of 11-5-12-2 before lunch saw the back of Kohli, who was deceived by an Agar delivery that straightened, and Shreyas Iyer. The latter received the ball of the match on day one from O’Keefe. Attempting a dab towards the onside, Iyer (1) was cleaned up by one that spun across his bat from leg stump and pegged back the off.

Though the pace trio of Gurinder Sandhu (3/25), Andrew Fekete (2/33) and Stoinis (1/21) deserve credit, the intent of the Indian batsmen or rather lack of it as they scored at 1.96 played a major role in Aussies’ dominance.

On a pitch that had pace, bounce and spin — which both teams were craving for the last time around —Pujara’s men were reduced to 56 for four at lunch leaving wicket-keeper batsman Naman Ojha and Nair to do the rescue act.

The only saving face for India ‘A’ was the fifty accumulated by Karun Nair (50) in 153 balls. The fifth-wicket pair of Nair and Ojha defied the potent Aussie attack for 32.5 overs and added 56 and the duo remained unbroken throughout the second session.

Having seen off a gruelling post lunch session that witnessed the visitors’ pace trio unleash a barrage of bouncers with four fielders catching around the bat close on the side, Ojha — who refrained from his usual belligerence for 83 balls — charged Agar right after tea only to miss the ball and get stumped for 10 runs in 84 balls.

Nair, who failed to impress in the first match, worked ever so hard for every run with the Australians resorting to the ring field strategy. As soon as a mistimed stroke off Nair’s pads found the diving hands of Joe Burns at short-square leg in the bowling of Fekete, Sandhu ran through the lower-order with the last six wickets falling for 26 runs.

While off-spin all-rounder B. Aparajith (12), who fell hit wicket to Sandhu, failed to grab his opportunity, leg-spinning all-rounder Shreyas Gopal (5 not out) was left stranded.

FoW: 1-18, 2-44, 3-52, 4-53, 5-109, 6-114, 7-125, 8-125, 9-130.

Bowling: G. Sandhu 15.5-4-25-3, Fekete 14-1-33-2, O'Keefe 17-5-30-2, Stoinis 10-3-21-1, Agar 12-3-23-2.

Australia ‘A’ (1st innings): C. Bancroft (batting) 24, U. Khawaja (batting) 13. Extras (b1, w1, nb4) 6. Total (for no loss in 13 overs) 43.

Bowling: Thakur 3-1-11-0, Aaron 5-2-13-0, Ojha 4-0-17-0, Aparajith 1-0-1-0.