Hilton Cartwright is sure to have a nervous night after ending day two unbeaten on 99. He, along with wicket-keeper Sam Whiteman (batting on nine), were the batsmen at the crease as the Australians ended the day with the score reading 319/5.

Earlier in the day, India A did not trouble the scorers at all as they were bowled out without adding any runs to their overnight total. Just four deliveries in on day two, India A’s Hardik Pandya was caught behind off Kane Richardson’s bowling for 79.

Richardson was the most successful bowler for Australia A, ending with figures of 4/37. Fellow fast bowler Jackson Bird picked up three wickets, with Chadd Sayer and Cartwright chipping in with a wicket each.

Australia A had a jittery start as they lost Travis Dean with no runs on the board. Opening partner Joe Burns soon followed suit as the hosts were reduced to 11/2.

Shardul Thakur continued his fine form from the previous match, picking up both the early wickets.

It was then that Nic Maddinson produced a counter-attacking innings and took the match away from India A’s grasp. Maddinson was dismissed with the score at 128/4 with 81 of those runs coming from his bat.

At that situation, India A might have sensed an opportunity to come back into the match, but it wasn’t to be as Beau Webster and Cartwright put on a 152-run partnership for the fifth wicket before Webster was eventually dismissed for 79.

Thakur ended the day with figures of 3/71, while Hardik Pandya and Jayant Yadav picked up a wicket a piece.

Already 1-0 down in the series, India A need to produce a miracle to get anything from this game.

BRIEF SCORES

India A 169 all out (Pandya 79, Richardson 4/37, Bird 3/53) trail Australia A 319/5 (Cartwright 99*, Maddinson 81, Webster 79, Thakur 3/71) by 150 runs