Lucknow, Wicket-keeper batter Dhruv Jurel's unbeaten 113 underlined a collective batting show from India ‘A’ that reached 403 for four against Australia A on day three of the unofficial Test here Thursday.
Apart from Jurel's 132-ball effort India were also bolstered by half-centuries from overnight batter N Jagadeesan , B Sai Sudharsan and an unbeaten 86 from Devdutt Padikkal.
Sipper Shreyas Iyer , though, could not make a mark.
India A were trailing by another 129 runs as the contest heads for a draw.
Earlier, a brisk century from Sam Konstas and Josh Philippe’s unbeaten 123 had taken the Australia A side to 532 for six declared.
The teams will face off here at the Ekana Stadium from September 23-26 for the second four-day unofficial Test before heading to Kanpur for a three-match one-day series.
The day's proceedings began with India A resuming at 116 for one as overnight pair of Jagadeesan and Sudharsan looked to build a stand but they could not do so.
Jagadeesan, who had received a Test call-up in England last month, fell for 64 off 113 balls after he was caught by Philippe off Xavier Bartlett.
{{/usCountry}}Jagadeesan, who had received a Test call-up in England last month, fell for 64 off 113 balls after he was caught by Philippe off Xavier Bartlett.
{{/usCountry}}The hosts carried on smoothly with the pair of Sudharsan and Padikkal putting on 76 runs to consolidate the innings.
The bulk of the scoring was done by the left-handed Tamil Nadu batter Sudharsan who made his Test debut in England, but Connolly trapped him leg-before in the 59th over of the innings.
India A skipper Iyer indeed had an opportunity to prove his point after recent snubs from the national side and given that the India squad will be soon picked for a two-Test series against West Indies early next month.
But Iyer, who has otherwise not put a foot wrong and in particular enjoys success against spinners, fell to Western Australia spinner Corey Rocchiccioli for only 8 in the 62nd over, which did put India A in a spot of bother.
This was when Jurel and Padikkal joined forces to take control and the pair stayed unseparated until the stumps.
Jurel and Padikkal’s unbeaten 181-run stand for the fifth wicket gave India A the bragging rights by the time play ended, since they scored their runs at a healthy run rate of nearly four an over.
Padikkal was batting on 86 not out off 178 balls with eight fours.
Brief Scores:
Australia A 1st innings: 532/6 decl
India A 1st innings: 403/4 in 103 overs
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.