On a day when only 66 overs could be bowled, Hardik Pandya was the saving grace for India A as he remained unbeaten on 79 at the end of day’s play at Allan Border Field, Brisbane.

After being put into bat, the Indians lost their first four wickets for just 11 runs. Akhil Herwadkar, Faiz Fazal, Karun Nair and Manish Pandey were all dismissed for single-digit scores, with Fazal and Pandey not even troubling the scorers.

After a brief 32-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Naman Ojha and Sanju Samson, both were dismissed in quick succession as India A looked like they could get bowled out for less than 100.

It was then that Jayant Yadav, who was one of the more reliable Indian batsmen in the previous match, and Pandya put on 78 runs for the seventh wicket. Yadav was eventually bowled by Kane Richardson for 28.

Dhawal Kulkarni stuck around with Pandya for a while before Richardson dismissed him for 11. At the end of day’s play, it’s number 11 batsman Varun Aaron who shares the crease with Pandya with the team total on 169/9.

Pacers Richardson and Jackson Bird were the most impressive of the Australian bowlers – both picking up three wickets each. Chadd Sayers and Hilton Cartwright also contributed with the ball, with one wicket each to their names.

BRIEF SCORES

India A 169/9 (Pandya 79*, Richardson 3/37, Bird 3/53)