Task Cut Out For India A As Australia A Eye Victory In 1st Unofficial Test

India A's first-innings batting collapse came back to haunt m as Australia A nosed ahe of visitors after being set a target of 225 on third day of first 'Unofficial Test' here on Saturday.

home team was 139 for three at stumps, needing anor 86 runs for victory as Indian bowlers could not get enough wickets to put pressure on Australians in ir second essay.

Skipper Nathan McSweeney and Beau Webster were batting on 47 and 19, respectively, at close of play.

McSweeney, one of top contenders to bag vacant opener's slot in Australian team for marquee Test series against India, forged an unbroken partnership of 54 runs for fourth wicket along with Webster after Australia A slipped to 85 for three.

India were all out for 312 in ir second innings, a far better batting display than ir forgettable outing on first day, when y crumbled for 107.

Resuming day on 96, Sai Sudharsan (103) duly completed his century but Devdutt Pikkal fell for 88, ding only eight runs to his overnight total of 80 after having stitched a partnership of 196 runs for third wicket with former.

India started day on 208 for two.

Australian bowlers, led by pacer Fergus O'Neill (4/55) and off-spinner Todd Murphy (3/77), fought back by taking two big wickets in quick succession and after that, visiting batters did not show enough application to stretch ir le.

Sudharsan was first to go, after attempting an expansive cover drive off bowling of Murphy.

Pikkal was trapped in front of wicket by Murphy 13 balls later after batter went on backfoot to tackle off-spinner.

Flamboyant keeper-batter Ishan Kishan walked into middle and he looked in mood as he played some impressive shots, including pulling O'Neill for a six.

However, Ishan got out soon, caught at second slip by Cameron Bancroft off bowling of O'Neill. Ishan me 32 off 58 balls during his stay in middle in which he was dropped when on 21.

Nitish Kumar Reddy (17) also got a reprieve but he threw away his wicket by driving a low full toss by Beau Webster back to bowler as India A stretched ir le to 199 runs.

Fast bowler Navdeep Saini chipped in 18 runs as India A's le went past 220.

Brief scores: India A: 107 and 312 all out in 100 overs (Sai Sudharsan 103, Devdutt Pikkal 88; Fergus O'Neill 4/55, Todd Murphy 3/77) Australia A: 195 and 139/3 in 50.3 overs (Nathan McSweeney 47 batting, Marcus Harris 36).