Cameron Bancroft’s patient half-century helped Australia A take the lead in the two-match Test series, surviving a disciplined effort from pacer Shardul Thakur as the hosts got across the line by three wickets at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane on Sunday.
It was anybody's game at the end of Day 3, with Australia precariously placed at 59/4, still needing another 100 runs to chase down the target. Bancroft’s 57-run partnership with middle-order batsman Beau Webster proved to be the difference on Day 4.
To stay with a chance of winning, it was imperative that the India A bowlers picked up early wickets. Varun Aaron had Webster leg-before for 30. Jayant Yadav and Thakur picked up wickets but timely lower order contributions from Sam Whiteman and Chadd Sayers helped Australia crawl towards the target.
It was India’s second innings collapse that made Australia’s task easier. Daniel Worrall, David Moody and Sayers picked up three wickets each to bowl India out for 156 on the third day. The decider of the two-match Test series will be start on the 15th of September on the same ground.
Brief Scores:
India A 230 (Manish Pandey 77, Faiz Fazal 48; Mitchell Swepson 4/78, David Moody 3/26) & 156 (Jayant Yadav 46, Shreyas Iyer 26; Chadd Sayers 3/21, Derek Worrall 3/43) lost to Australia A 228 (Joe Burns 78, Peter Handscomb 87; Varun Aaron 3/41, Jayant Yadav 3/44) & 161/7 (Cameron Bancroft 58 not out, Beau Webster 30; Shardul Thakur 3/42) by 3 wickets.