Australia skipper Steve Smith and Shaun Marsh got their tour of India off to a solid start with fine centuries on day one of their warm-up game against India A in Mumbai on Friday. The duo’s effort helped Australia post 327/5 as the Indian bench strength was tested by the visitors.
The visitors, though, got off on the back foot, as India A’s Navdeep Saini sent back David Warner and Matt Renshaw with just 55 on the board. Smith and Marsh, however, shared a 156-run stand for the third wicket to take Australia to a position of strength. Smith’s effort included 12 boundaries and one six. He retired out on 107, while Marsh retired out on 104 (11 x 4, 1 x 6).
Their departure did not slow Australia’s progress, as lower-order batsmen Peter Handscomb (45) and Mitchell Marsh (16) took them past the 300-run mark.
Other than Saini, who ended the day with figures of 12.4-4-27-2, none of India’s other bowlers managed to make a major impact. Skipper Hardik Pandya did manage to send back Handscomb at the fag end of the day, but Australia ended the day as clearly the more dominant of the two sides.
Brief scores
- Australians 327/5 (Steve Smith 107, Shaun Marsh 104; Navdeep Saini 2/27) vs India A.
