PUDUCHERRY: Devdutt Padikka's fifty and Kumar Kushagra's unbeaten 46 helped India A to set a target of 363 for Australia A in the first four-day match on Thursday.
The hosts were all out for 199 in their second essay as Todd Murphy ran through the line-up to induce a collapse. From 93/1 at the start of the day, they slumped to 126/4 with Murphy removing B Sai Sudharsan early. Opener Sudharsan (39, 85b, 3x4), who scored a fifty in the first innings, and fellow-southpaw Padikkal (59, 88b, 7x4) put on 68 for the second wicket as India A built on a solid first-innings lead of 163.
But once the former fell, skipper Padikkal and Kushagra tried to rebuild. Padikkal first got to his fifty as India A extended the lead past 300. In-form Padikkal, who recorded his fourth 50-plus score in as many first-class matches, reached his fifty with successive fours off pacer Liam Scott.
Once he fell, the rest of the batting line-up did not last long despite the efforts of Kushagra who remained in beaten till the end. Murphy took 4/48 in 15 overs.
Austrlaia A were 55/2 at the close, needing 308 to win, and requiring to bat out an entire day to save the game. The focus will be on Indian spinner Shams Mulani who took four wickets in the first innings as the hosts look to win the match.
Brief scores: India A 334 & 199 all out in 57.4 overs (Sai Sudharsan 39, Devdutt Padikkal 59, Kumar Kushagra 46 n.o., Brendan Doggett 2-21, Todd Murphy 4-48, Liam Scott 2-22) v Australia A 171 & 55/2 in 23 overs.